Second Stage
by KaliAnn
Summary: Part 1 of S2 trilogy. Recent events has shown the heroes they have a lot to learn to become strong enough to take on Hawkmoth directly. They start getting lessons from Master Fu, who believes its also time for his Apprentice Ning Sun/Peace Keeper to enter level two of her training as a Great Guardian. Will this training pay off or is Hawkmoth simply to hard to defeat?
1. Level Two

**The attack mentioned in this chapter really did happen. On April 6** **th** **2018, there was an attack in Mali on a (MINUSMA) resulting in the death of Niger Peace Keeper.**

* * *

Ning Sun, known better as Peace Keeper, was watching the latest UN Security Council meeting, from her underground bunker home. The Security Council was up in arms about an attack that happened in Mali that had left one Peace Keeper dead.

Ning looked down at the report of what happened. In the late hours of Friday, the UN Security Council, after reviewing the reports of the attack, had offered their deepest condolences and sympathy to the family of the victim, as well as to the Government of Niger and to MINUSMA.

They praised to the peacekeepers who risked their lives in Gao and calling on the Malian Government to swiftly investigate the attack and bring the perpetrators to justice.

"This attack constitutes as both an act of terrorism and perhaps even war crimes once the ones responsible for the attack are tried. According to international laws, any act of terrorism on a peace mission, than all countries involved in the mission, are responsible for helping bring justice to the people hurt by the attack.

Okay, what else is there to consider. In accordance to the Agreement for Peace and Reconciliation in Mali, the government needs to improve security and prevent acts of terrorism, with the help of the UN, to bring a lasting peace while making the country stable for the citizens."

Ning turned away from the video feed and continued to review reports coming in. The peace mission in Mali was one of the most dangerous in the history. The G5-Sahel, the government party responsible for bringing peace and safety, to the Sahel region, are increasing their efforts to prevent cross border terrorism acts.

These attacks that have led to death of one hundred and sixty peace keepers so far, many killed in convoy attacks. With the increasing violence, the UN Security Council had agreed they needed more MINUSMA vehicles had the necessary capacities, including combat convoy companies, to fulfill its mandate and promote the safety and security of the United Nations peacekeepers, pursuant to Security Council resolution 2364 (2017).

"Fancy words and I'm in total agreement. There has been so much violence in that region. If it continues to spread farther, it might also reach disputed countries in other parts of Africa. The worst thing to happen would be if the entire continent fell into war and violence," Ning sighed as she laid the report down.

She started to pace, trying to relax. The peace mission in the Sahel region was vital to not only to the Mali security, but would go a long way in establishing peace in other countries on the continent. A peaceful Africa would be a big step in creating world peace.

Running her hand over her Kwami Charms, she started to wonder. Kwamiis, were little gods, abstract creatures that represent ideas and concepts. She knew what the seven Miraculous represented. Maybe the Miraculous Book could give her clues on how to use one of the Charms to introduce the concept of peace to the region. If only it wasn't on another continent at the moment.

Turning back to the video of the UN Security Council, it seemed that the attack had also once again brought up problems between Palestine and Israel, this time about, March of Return, a peaceful protest from Palestine. Only things got really out of hand with firebombs and tear gas.

Ning didn't fully understand what was going on, considering that the Gaza Strip problems, were constantly changing. All she knew for sure is that the Security Council was asked to help investigate attacks independently, but the US blocked the investigation.

While there were always problems going on in the world, and the UN did its best, but for the past few years it seemed that the world wanted more death and violence then it did peace and life.

Stomping out of the computer/library room, she flopped down on her couch. She covered her face with a pillow and screamed into it, before tossing it to the ground. Back to back peace mission, meeting a Marinette that was a Turtle, and helping out a tiny bit when that Marinette and the one she knew, were splintered.

"This has been a real nightmare lately that has left me exhausted! Ugh, all this thinking about a Guardian Marinette, is reminding me about my unhappiness with Master Fu lately," she groused.

She had read all the books about the different Kwamiis, about what they stood for and special abilities they had. She practiced everyday with the Charms. She even had chat sessions with Master Fu going over her lessons and enjoying his virtual company.

"If I admit to myself, I rather not be sent to Mali or Gaza to assist in the peace efforts there. I'm talented and certainly can handle a lot, but even I have to admit, I don't think I could make much of difference right now.

Honestly, I rather head back to Paris for a while. I think, no I _know_ I'm ready to take on more responsibilities as an Apprentice. I need to show Fu he can trust me. That I'm ready for the next level in my apprenticeship."

The sounds of someone knocking on her secret door alerted her that someone was coming to visit. Probably to inform her what her new mission was.

Pushing herself up and out of the couch, she quickly fixed her hair and walked over to the staircase, ready to greet her visitor.

* * *

Meanwhile, in Paris, Adrien and Marinette were at a meeting with Master Fu, as he discussed with them a plan to see if Gabriel Agreste was Hawkmoth.

Of course Adrien protested, saying that just because he had the Miraculous Book, didn't mean he was Hawkmoth. His father was not a criminal mastermind, he had a fashion company to run!

Master Fu took a sip of his tea before placing it back down on the table. "I understand you reluctance Adrien. While the Miraculous Book is a key clue, there are other clues that point to him. You mentioned that he traveled to Tibet and purchased the book there."

Adrien nodded and asked why that was important. They had the Miraculous Book, why did it matter where his father got it?

"It matters young wielder, because there was a sanctuary for Guardians in Tibet. According to what Ning found when she was in Italy, the Miraculous Book made it to Tibet, but not to the sanctuary. Why was that?" Wayzz asked the boy.

"Maybe it got lost in the mail?" Adrien tried to joke. When the others frowned at him, he looked down at the floor.

Marinette placed her hand over his and smiled at him. "I know this is scary to think about, but a lot of clues do lead to your father. His logo is a butterfly, he has a job that gives him the freedom and creativity to create akumas. He doesn't leave the house often does he?"

Adrien shook his head, but pointed out that her parents didn't leave their bakery often either. It didn't mean they were super villains. His girlfriend, bit her lip, as if she wanted to say something, but was fearful of how he would react.

Taking a deep breath, Marinette let it out. "I'm not sure I should mentioned this, but it might be helpful to us. Remember, how I was splintered and merged with all my other souls?"

The others nodded and Adrien even grimaced. He still was having trouble accepting with what had happened and that a person could have more than one soul. He wasn't sure he wanted to meet his other souls. He liked being the only Adrien Agreste.

"While we were connected, I was able to see and experience my other sides' memories. In a few of them, Hawkmoth was identified as Gabriel Agreste." She held up a hand to stop Adrien's protests.

"I know what you're going to say, just because he's Hawkmoth in other versions of life, doesn't mean he is here. Still, we need to check this out, if only to prove he isn't involved."

The Kwamiis agreed it was vital to find out the truth. Especially, when Plagg pointed out ,it would be really dangerous for Adrien at home. if this turned out to be true.

Master Fu warned them to be careful. If Hawkmoth suspected they were in the area looking for him, he knew the villain would make his kwami suffer.

A few minutes later Chat Noir and Ladybug were making their way towards the Agreste mansion. The plan was simple. Run a recon, check to see if Adrien's father had added anything new to his security system. After gathering the intelligence they would make a plan to get inside and search.

"So, how to do you want to go about this My Lady? One of us doing a recon, the other on figuring out the security system?"

"You're in charge of this mission Chat Noir. You know this place better than anyone else. What do you think is best?" she replied.

Chat Noir thought about it for a few minutes. He knew more about the security system because of his father's lectures about how well protected the house was compared to the rest of the world.

As for the house itself, he wasn't sure if he knew it as well as he thought. He remembered a few years back there had been some reconstruction on the house. During the reconstruction his mother had taken him to the countryside for a few weeks to enjoy the fresh air. There could be rooms he didn't know about.

So he gave the recon mission to Ladybug and decided to check out the security system himself. He pole vaulted over to his mansion and landed on the back wall, crouching to make himself smaller.

Carefully, he made his way across the wall studying the yard, his cat vision trying to spot any discrepancy that might reveal a hidden security trap. So far, nothing was standing out.

As he continued his search, hope was rising in his heart. If he couldn't find any new additions to the security system, then it proved his father was very overprotective and paranoid, but not Hawkmoth!

" _Don't eat your cheese yet kid. Just because you haven't found anything yet, it doesn't mean that there isn't something to find._

Before Chat Noir could retort, there was an explosion that sounded close by. Ladybug swung herself high in the air and was being chased by someone.

It was an akumatized person throwing a large sketch book. Ladybug spun around narrowly avoiding the book, but it did touch a water tower, making it disappear. Her body language indicating she was in deep thought about how to defeat this akuma.

* * *

While her partner was making his way to her, Ladybug was doing her best to avoid the Collector. She had been doing a swing by on recon and the Akuma came out of the mansion as if he was searching for something.

She easily identified him as Gabriel Agreste, due to his voice and his akumatized form wasn't that different from his usual attire. Something seemed off with this Akuma, but she couldn't put her finger on it.

"Ladybug, Hawkmoth will be pleased that I captured you for my collection. I've already collected the most inspiring pieces of Paris. Adding you and Chat Noir will be the pinnacle of inspiration," the Collector sneered at her.

Ladybug hurled her yo-yo at the Collector. It wrapped around the Collector's left leg. She tugged it hard causing the enemy to fall to the ground losing his hold on the book. It slid across the roof until it was halfway between the two of them.

"Sorry Mr. Agreste, but I have no intention of being part of your stolen collection," She told him calmly. Inside, her mind was rattled by the fact that Mr. Agreste had been akumatized. Did that mean he wasn't Hawkmoth?

Lost in thought, the Collector took advantage of this. The yo-yo string had some slack. With a sharp tug he was free. Ladybug's balance was thrown off. She stumbled across the rooftop, flailing her arms around as tried to regain her balance.

Collector summoned his book and was ready to toss it, when he was pinned to the roof by Chat Noir's baton. "Leave My Lady alone!" The black cat shoved his baton harder into the Akuma's back and hissed loudly.

"Mangy cat! Get off me!" The superhero jumped up, to avoid being touched by the book, which was swatted at him. The baton fell on top of Collector who quickly used his book to capture it.

The duo got off the roof and ran down the side of the building with the Akuma hot on their heels. Dodging the book, they landed in a crouch on the sidewalk. They then hopped over the huge wall and ran into the Agreste Mansion.

Chat Noir ran into the atrium and activated the security system. He had heard Ladybug call the Collector by his father's name. His heart soared with delight knowing he couldn't be Hawkmoth if he was akumatized. On the hand, his father was trying to "collect" him and he had no desire to be trapped in a book.

Ladybug summoned her Lucky Charm, which was a pedal. Her special vision wasn't helping her in here. "Let's go upstairs and see if we can use this there. Hopefully, we can turn your father back to normal!"

The two heroes made it to the second floor just as the Collector made it inside the house. He followed the two wanting to get this farce over with. Soon the Miraculouses would be his!

Even an akumatized Hawkmoth wasn't enough to win against the duo and was returned to normal. It wasn't a total loss for him. He had thrown the duo off his trail. Neither hero had remembered his voice when they were trapped in that awful hunt together.

As Mr. Agreste congratulated himself on a job well done, Nooroo could only watch, from his hidden perch in the rafters, of the lair. His little heart pounded in his chest.

He had hoped when he was temporarily unbound from his wielder that the duo or their Kwamiis might have sensed him. He even called out to Master Fu and Wayzz with no results. Now he was bonded again with this awful man. He just had to keep hoping someday he would be free again.

* * *

Later in the evening, Master Fu was drinking tea with Wayzz, thinking about what the two heroes had told him. When the two Miraculous wielders had come back exhausted and partially excited, (well Adrien at least), he learned that the latest akuma had been Mr. Agreste himself.

That had surprised the Great Guardian. Logically, if the fashion designer had the Miraculous Book, then the Butterfly Miraculous should be there as well. So many other clues pointed to him, including the profile Ning had obtained. He was rarely wrong, but this time he made a mistake.

"Perhaps, my old age is getting to me. I was very certain about this man being Hawkmoth. Especially, when young Marinette revealed, what her other souls ,had shared with her," he informed his kwami, frowning as he looked at his tea cup.

"She did remind us that what was true in one world, could not be true here. It has been a long time since I've seen or talked with Nooroo as you know. He might have powers I have forgotten."

Powers that could turn his Miraculous wielders into an akuma was left unspoken.

The Great Guardian thought about this fact. The Miraculous Book did contain many secrets that he wasn't aware of. Spells, long lost powers, detailed information about the Kwamiis, things they themselves might have forgotten.

"I believe my friend, the best thing we can do for now, is to keep Mr. Agreste on the list of possible suspects, while investigating other possibilities. It would be very foolish to ignore the possibility; when we don't know the full extent of his abilities."

Wayzz nodded and zipped back over to the hidden Miraculous Box. He sent his dormant sisters his emotions on what was going on. He could feel their minds brushing his, both anxious about what was happening.

They had a right to be anxious. The Miraculous had been misused in the past, but the last time had been nearly two centuries ago. In this modern age with so much technology, magic gave them only a slight edge in the fight.

Looking over his shoulders, the little kwami eyed his wielder. Fu was looking at a photograph on a chest. He walked over slowly, picked it up, and stared at it.

Fu's finger's traced the face of the person in the photograph. It was a photograph of his Apprentice. The last time she had been in Paris, during the Volpena incident, she had let him take a picture of her out of a disguise.

Ever since there chance meeting when she was six years old, he had known that Ning would be the one who would succeed him. Her connection the Kwami Charms was very strong. Not only was she strong, she was smart, dedicated, and driven to succeed. After all, she had managed to keep Wayzz's Charm hidden from her superiors for twenty three years.

Her biggest accomplishment, was getting the UN and French government, to back down from trying to learn, the Miraculous users identities or understanding the magic associated with them.

I am not getting any younger. Ning has progressed to the point she is ready to start the second level of her training as the future Great Guardian, Fu thought to himself.

The biggest obstacle in her training though, is what makes her excellent Apprentice. How do I go about bringing her to Paris, when I can't be sure where or who she is right now?

Setting the photograph back down, the old Guardian sighed a bit. Without looking at his kwami, the old man asked him, if he believed Ning was ready for the next level in her training.

Wayzz landed on the old man's shoulder and leaned in. "It is not a matter if she is ready. The important thing is that _she_ believes she's ready. The second level of training is a lot harder than the first. She'll be challenged in ways she wasn't before."

Fu glanced down at his Miraculous, knowing the difficulties she would face. He was very worried about what she would have to do. Could she handle the power or would she be overwhelmed?

"I do believe we should begin trying to contact her. Hopefully Ning can get her as soon as possible."

* * *

A few days had passed since Ning/Peace Keeper had her meeting with her superior. To her immense relief, she wasn't going to be deployed to Mali or to the Gaza Strip. Instead, she had been asked to figure out a problem that was causing another uprising in the UN.

Once again, the conflict happening in Syria had been brought up after an alleged attack using chemical warfare, in a rebelled hold down of Douma. There were reports of seventy people dead.

The problem was, that both Russia and the USA had clashed over what to do in response. The Russian UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia, had told the UN Security Council that Moscow, had warned the USA of "grave repercussions" if it carries out an attack against Syrian government forces, over the alleged chemical attack.

According to Nebenzia, "There was no chemical weapons attack, Through the relevant channels we already conveyed to the US that armed force under mendacious pretext against Syria where, at the request of the legitimate government of a country, Russian troops have been deployed, could lead to grave repercussions,"

The USA UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, had stated simply the country would respond to this attack no matter what the UN Security Council decided to do.

In the Ambassador's on words, "History will record this as the moment when the Security Council either discharged its duty or demonstrated its utter and complete failure to protect the people of Syria," she said. "Either way, the United States will respond."

The issue at hand was there was no concrete evidence that chemical attacks had been used. Also complicating the problem was that the USA didn't have the right to punish Syria unilaterally against the consensus of the Security Council.

The USA continuous activities in the Middle East, were causing a lot more problems than they were helping, according the UN reports she was reviewing. Conflicts had been escalating in part to the USA's involvement, but it wasn't the only reason. Other countries had also added to the chaos soup.

"The UN Security Council wants me to figure out the best way to hold off a rapid response attack that isn't sanctioned. A violent response could leave many innocent people dead and lead to more violent attacks.

What the region really needs in the resources and money to protect the children who have grown up in this civil war for the past seven years. I believe, that if we can get Syrian children to a safe place, outside the country, it would reduce the amount of casualties.

However, this action could have two different repercussions. One, with the removal of the children it might convince both sides to come together to create a better place for the children to come home, or it could have the opposite effect. Increasing the violence without having to worry about repercussions."

It was a tricky problem and so far, Ning/Peace Keeper hadn't been able to come up with a solution. The safest option would be to convince the USA to hold off the attack for a few days, until the situation was investigated, by the legal government.

"USA has been the one to respond rapidly to any violence no matter where it has occurred. I'm not certain if being constantly offensive is the right course of action. I am loyal to the country, as I am to all countries."

While Ning was thinking over the problem, she heard a ping. Glancing up, she saw that a new email message had arrived. She frowned, knowing only a few people knew her proper address and could get through the high tech security protection.

Tapping a few keys on the computer, she was surprised by what the email was. Master Fu was extending an invitation for her to come to Paris and start her next level of training.

"Of course I want to come. If I didn't have so many responsibilities right now, I say yes it a heartbeat."

She quickly wrote back a reply saying that she would be busy for a few weeks, but would make it to Paris before the end of the month.

* * *

Marinette was starting to wonder why she agreed to go to Chloe's party to begin with. She was sipping a drink, as she watched the rest of her classmates, enjoy themselves on the dance floor.

Earlier today, Chloe had pulled a stunt by faking a call to the fire department. Then, while the rest of the school had to clean it, she had used her daddy's name to get out of her punishment.

"Clearly, the standards for graduating out of charm school, have fallen greatly," she muttered to herself. Chloe still believed that her father had so much power still, when in reality he had none.

After his akumanzation, and the discovery of his illegal use of funds, he was stripped of his rank and would be going to jail, once his "term" was up. In reality, the vice mayor was in charge of the city.

"Except, no one knows that except the city government and three heroes. I wonder if it's worth keeping my identity secret if I have to put up with this."

"Put up with what?" Alya asked as she leaned against the wall next to her friend. She had also grabbed a drink, as she took a break, from the dance floor. She had a smirk on her face as she looked back at the dance floor.

Chloe was reluctantly dancing with Kim, when it was clear she wanted to be with Adrien, who currently was dancing with Rose. He seemed to be enjoying himself.

Alya took a sip of her drink and laughed a little at Marinette's expression. Her best friend looked like she either wanted to throw up or throttle someone. "You're not jealous are you? Everyone knows you and Adrien are an item, except of course for Chloe. She's determined to steal Adrien from you."

Marinette laughed at the absurdity notion she would be jealous of her boyfriend spending time with another girl. "Clearly, I'm not jealous Alya. I'm not the possessive type, unlike Chloe. Adrien can hang out with whoever he wants to."

"So what's bugging you?"

"That Chloe believes that if she's nice during a party, then Adrien will go back to being her friend, and she can still be rude and mean to people. At times, Adrien is just too forgiving."

Alya rolled her eyes. She didn't like Chloe either, but Marinette shouldn't be trying to dictate Adrien's life either.

She took a sip of her drink and gave Marinette some advice. "Maybe you should trust him to make his own choices. Girl, we don't like Chloe one bit, but she was his first friend, so maybe you can go easy on her this one time?"

Marinette conceded to Alya. She asked her best friend to watch her drink as she headed to the bathroom to freshen up. She also needed to talk to "herself" so to speak.

In the safety of the bathroom, Marinette washed her face and hands, in an attempt, to wash away her negative emotions. She didn't want to accidently draw in an akuma.

Looking into the mirror, she tried to imagine another version of herself, reflected in the glass. She wasn't a _One_ , like PT Marinette. However, after the events of the splintering, each version of Marinette, had some knowledge on how to speak to their other sides, though they usually couldn't do it, when they were awake.

This was her first try to contact another version of her when she was conscious. Her reflection started to shimmer as the outline of a girl with short wavy hair in a rocker jacket with distressed jeans appeared in the mirror. Her image was overlaid on Marinette's.

" _What in the name of kitty cats is going on? LB, is that you?"_ CN Marinette asked cautiously.

Marinette nodded, and winced a little. It was a little difficult maintaining this conversation without being a _One_ _ **.**_ "I can't hold this for long. I need your advice."

" _Better be quick then, if you're trying to talk to me in the real world, instead of our soul rooms."_

Marinette quickly explained the situation, taking a few deep breaths and bracing herself against the countertop. This was harder then she imagined. "You're the resident bad girl so to speak. What should I do, embrace this negativity, or, control it?"

" _Sometimes, you need to be a bad girl, in order to win. Embrace the emotions and let them help you, because I'm certain an akuma is going to appear. Good lu…"_

CN Marinette vanished from the mirror leaving Marinette alone. "That was exhausting. I don't think I'm going to try something like this again for a while."

That's when she heard a lot of screaming. Poking her head out of the bathroom, she saw an akumatized teddy bear latching on to people to attack Chloe.

"Guess it's time to unleash my bad girl." One transformation later, she appeared in the crowd. She saw a teddy bear with glowing green eyes, latching on to other people and making them attack Chloe. "Hey demented stuff toy! What's the matter not getting enough cuddles?"

"Ladybug! I shall take your Miraculous!" Despair Bear shouted in his tiny voice. He latched onto Nathanial, who ran towards a yawning Ladybug.

Right before he could reach her, she tripped him up and bounced up so she was sitting on the arm rail of the stairs. "Sorry, you stumbled over me. You want to see something really bad?"

Swinging across the ceiling she landed on the bar, sliding down it crashing all the food. Despair Bear turned around latching on to Max, who was standing by the bar.

"Give me those earring!"

"You need nap teddy!" Ladybug spat as she stuck out her tongue. She pushed Max over looking for the bear, but it was nowhere in sight. Looking around she spotted the little bear as it went from person to person trying to escape.

"My Lady, I'm her to help destroy you!" Chat Noir shouted as Despair Bear grabbed him. He came after her with his baton causing Ladybug to be backed into a corner.

"Lucky Charm!" A fork landed in her hand. Quickly she looked around and saw the bear, the blender, and Chloe. "Hey Chloe, heads up!"

Chloe, turned to sound of her name, just as a fork with a piece of the toy bear, attached to it, landed in her hands. "What am I supposed to do with this disgusting thing?"

"Use the blender!" Ladybug shouted.

Chloe, did as she was asked. The blender blades started spin, chopping up the plastic fork. The blades started to get tangled up and the machine fritz out. "Why in the world would you tell me to that? Now I can't have smoothies!"

Ladybug didn't pay attention. The broken blender had done its job in ripping the toy in two. Her yo-yo shot out, captured and purified the akuma, in mere second. One Miraculous Ladybug later everything was back to normal.

* * *

The next day Chloe was back to her usual bratty self and it was really starting to get on everyone's nerves. The student body didn't care that Chloe kept a childhood reminder. Almost everyone had something similar in their bedrooms.

No, what was the problem, was Chloe never seemed to learn. The class had hoped after throwing the party and saving the day, she would understand what it meant to be friendly and kind.

Apparently she had not learned her lesson. Now, she was even being bratty to the teachers. Today, was no exception.

While Ms. Bustier was attempting to teach the class about the difference between English and French sentence structure, Chloe was talking on her phone trying to set up a spa day for herself.

"No, I told you before I need to be scheduled in first. I don't care if someone else had a month long reservation. Excuse me, do you know who I am? I'm going to give you once chance to apologize or, hey!"

Chloe was very upset when someone took her phone. She was about to start yelling when she saw it was the teacher. "Excuse me, I was on the phone! You're a teacher, not a thief."

"Young lady, phones are not allowed to be on or used in class. I have given you three warnings. Now, I'm confiscating this phone until the end of the school day. Please pay attention."

Chloe grumbled and if she had laser beams for eyes, she would have burn straight through her teacher's shirt. She was special and above all the others in this class. She didn't know why no one could grasp that concept.

Besides, why would she need to learn anything anyways? She would always be rich, powerful, and if her father ever stopped running, she would win the next election, then get Sabrina to do all the work.

Adrien watched his friend out of the corner of his eye. Sometimes he wondered if she had swallowed the silver spoon she was born with. Maybe he should try a little harder in helping her understand what it meant to be a good person.

Marinette didn't know what to do when she saw Adrien give Chloe sideways glances. He was always there for his friends and treated them with respect unlike Chloe.

She's never going to change, so why does he keep trying to break through the wall of fantasies that she surrounds herself with? Marinette wondered. The answer was clear though.

Adrien always looked for the best in people and wouldn't stop trying to help the person he cared about. His loyalty to people was admirable. It was one of his most enduring qualities.

I should support him, even if I don't agree with him. Looks like I still have some things I need to learn. She returned to her note taking wanting to stay on top of her homework.

Later that day, right before school was about to get out, Ms. Bustier asked the class to quiet down as she had an announcement to make. The students wondered what she was going to say. Whatever it was, it sure made her smile a lot.

"What I have to say might make some of you uncomfortable. I hope though you will take advantage of this opportunity you are being presented with. The Parisian School for Charming Young Ladies and Gentlemen, is having a formal ball to raise funds for their school next month.

The ball is open to any students from college and up. They are offering courses for proper etiquette and dance to anyone who wishes to join for half price. I urge you all to think about this and make the best choice for you.

The classes start on Tuesday so you have until Monday to sign up. Please talk about this with your parents and I'll see you tomorrow."

As the class left to get their belongings before going home, Chloe was loudly complaining. "I don't know why my charm school thinks it's necessary to open a formal ball to the plebeians. Really, I doubt any of them could actually learn anything in only a few weeks. They'll make complete fools of themselves while I be the shining star of the ball. I can't wait to get the new dress I've been eying."

The entire class stopped heading to their lockers and stared at the blond. She'd been going to the charm school for months and she hadn't changed at all. For many different reasons, Ms. Bustier class decided to sign up, and prove they were better people than Chloe.


	2. New Materials

Ning/Peace Keeper was not pleased by what the news stations were reporting. President Trump of the USA, without any approval from the Security Council or Congress, convinced their allies, France and the UK, to destroy three targets with a one hundred missiles.

The strike was a response to the alleged chemical attack. It was also a warning to the country not use chemical weapons ever again. According to President Trump's tweets it was a perfect strike.

However, he had broken many laws in order to launch the unauthorized attack. The President of the United States, must get Congress approval before ordering a strike. He also blatantly attacked, without gathering enough evidence, to support a strike.

The destruction of the targets was supposed to minimize death. Regardless of that lives were lost. As far as diplomacy was concerned, the USA had abandon their efforts to talk with Syria early on, deciding that force was the better option.

Ning turned off the news stations as she looked up recent tweet responses to the latest attack. It was a mixed batch, several approved, and others didn't because the attack wasn't constitutional.

Disgusted by the responses, Ning turned off all the computers and TVs. She was created to help minimize conflicts such as these, before the problems started drawing in other countries. In the last decade it felt as if she was losing her ability to prevent conflicts.

"I understand that Syria has been through turbulent times over and over again since it emerge as country on March 8 1920. Coups, occupations, and lastly in armed conflicts.

I know for a fact though that people are fully capable of retaining an identity and coming together again as one united country and people, if they would put down their weapons and talk. "

Leaning back in her chair, she thought about her loyalty to the USA. She loved the country and its people dearly, because she lived in it. The USA was so diverse and progressive, however in the last few decades, the USA had reverted in many ways. Most of them were not good at all.

"The states are creating laws without consideration to the people they actually affect. There has been an increasing amount of guns and bomb attacks. All citizens are having their rights being taking away." She blew a strand of hair out of her face. She needed to get out of the office and do something else. All this work was stressing her out. Getting up she headed to her rooms for disguises and stuff.

Now, Ning wasn't supposed to leave her bunker, unless she was on a job. There was an exception rule. The UN Security Council, had agreed that having cabin fever, was departmental to a person's health.

So three days out of the month, if she wasn't on a mission, Ning was allowed to go outside for a few hours, as long as she didn't draw attention to herself. When she emerged from one of her secret entrances, she now was a black woman, with short brown haired and coco brown eyes. She was taller than her real height and had a fake angel tattoo on her right wrist.

Walking down the streets, she wondered what she should do today for fun. New York had lots of different options, but Ning, or, "Courtney" didn't want to stray too far from her home base.

"Hmm, well I haven't been to Central Park before. Maybe a relaxing walk or a visit to the zoo might ease my frustrations." "Courtney" walked for half an hour to get the park. Walking among the different paths, she felt the troubles that had been bothering her slip away. People waved and said hello to her. It was very nice.

She headed to the Central Park Zoo to enjoy seeing wildlife. Upon entering, she started looking at the different animals, thinking about what symbolism was behind them, and if they responded to some abstract creature, that hadn't been found yet.

Lemurs, rare birds, snow leopards. Everywhere, she looked there were animals, enjoying their homes. Many from different places and still getting along. "If only people could learn to live like this. Maybe even created a better food chain would be nice."

After going to the zoo, she walked back to the UN building, stopping at newsstands to pick up papers. Papers from all over the world about different events, most of them tragic.

Why doesn't the news ever seem to report on anything good? There are plenty of stories out there about people doing good things, trying to make the world better she wondered.

It's almost if the news wants to keep people in a state of anger, depression, or fear. All this bad stuff makes it even harder for me to do my job. After all, so many people do good things because they want to inspire others to do the same.

When she got back to her home, she went back into her computer room/library and decided to see if she could find any studies, to help her with her mission. "I hope the second level of Guardian training, isn't as hard as trying to figure out what to do about the rising conflict of bombing other countries into submission."

* * *

A few days later in Paris, Ms. Bustier's class, was waiting in the lobby of the Parisian School for Charming Young Ladies and Gentlemen, waiting to meet their assigned teachers.

There were several other classes from many different schools here. Apparently, many girls couldn't pass up the chance to be in a real ball, and most of the guys were here, so they could spend time with as many pretty girls as possible.

Chloe was huffing in a corner with the rest of the regular students. Her fellow charm school classmates all came from rich families and a few, ugh, scholarship students. The rest of the students seemed excited about meeting new people, which didn't make sense to her. Why would they want to mingle with commoners?

"I can't believe the school is doing this. We're the elite of the city. None of these lower class kids should be here. The only one who stands out is Adrikins. I'm his best friend," she bragged to the other students.

"We're well aware of that fact Chloe, you've only mentioned it a hundred times during the year," remarked one the male students. The boy in question was short and slender, with dusty skin, with plain brown eyes and short brown hair. He gave the mayor's daughter a flat stare. "Do you not remember what Madame Isaura told us in Hosting Events the other day? A good host makes everyone feel welcomed and loved, no matter their status."

"Just shut up Judekael."

There was a loud clap from the top of the grand staircase. Everyone stopped talking and looked up. There was a tall woman with dark brown locks held together in a bun. Her face was angler with a sharp nose and her eyes were hazel colored. She wore a blush colored dress that was both modern yet had elements from Victorian times, in it.

Standing next to her was a man who looked like her twin. They shared several features, and he wore a plum colored suit. Behind them, was the staff of the school dressed in similar clothes. The staff had one eye on the lady and gentlemen, the other on the students.

"Welcome young ladies and gentlemen. I am Madam Isaura, I'm the headmistress and teacher at the Parisian School for Charming Young Ladies and Gentlemen," she in a velvety voice.

She placed her hand on the gentlemen next to her and introduced him as her brother Monsieur Jerome. He was the owner of the school and was in charge of the administration duties for keeping the school running. He acknowledged the students with a nod.

His sister continued her speech. "I'm very pleased that so many of you have signed up for our fundraiser ball. While your time with us maybe short, I like to remind everyone if they wish to join the school for the next semester they are welcomed to.

This fundraiser ball, is not only a chance to raise money for our school, but also to make new friends. We want you to be able to succeed in any future you chose. The skills you learn here will help make people respect you and open paths which have been closed before."

Monsieur Jerome stepped forward and explained how the classes would run and what they needed to do to prepare for the ball next month. The classes would be divided into an even number of boys and girls so they could be paired up.

Each class would last half an hour, and they would report to the finishing school every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday for two hours, meaning they would have four classes each day they were here. There would also be a rehearsal the night before the ball to iron out any problems and make sure their outfits were approved.

After that they divided the students up into different groups. Marinette and Adrien ended up in a group with: Nino, Alya, Kim, Alex, along with Mylene, Ivan, and surprisingly, Chloe and Judekael.

There first teacher was Madame Laurel, who would teaching Basic Etiquette. When they entered the classroom they saw five small tables with two seats per each. "I will now assign your partners. Each pair of partners will sit at the table I indicate." She looked down on the list she had. She partnered up the class, putting Nino and Alya, at the first table, Mylene and Ivan the second table. Next was Kim and Alex, followed by Chloe and Judekael, and lastly Marinette and Adrien.

Chloe was not pleased at all with the arraignment. Chloe opened her mouth and was about to speak only for Madame Laurel to hush her. "There will be no switching partners. This charm school works on the principle that everyone should have a chance to improve themselves no matter who they are. That includes you Miss Bourgeois."

The blond girl pouted as she slumped into her seat unhappily. "I don't need a review on basic etiquette. I already took this class and passed it with flying colors," she muttered to herself.

"Then you can help the others out, by paying attention," hissed Judekael. He was one of the scholarship students and he intend to graduate this school with honors.

* * *

Two days later, Ning was setting up her entertainment system, to the UN's ultra fast broadcast satellite, so she could watch the broadcast of Nadja Chamack interviewing Ladybug and Chat Noir. While she couldn't be there physically, she still wanted to support them in some way. "I have to thank the French Representative for giving me access to his personal TV services. I hope Marinette doesn't get nervous on camera."

Finally the show was starting. Ning sat on the couch, her head on a fluffy pillow, a bowl of popcorn in her lap, as she watched Nadja interview the heroes. Her first few questions were harmless; asking how they met, did they have any new powers, what was it like being a superhero.

Then she got too pushy. "As you can see from our video footage it appears that you two are in love with one another. You have even been seen kissing one another."

On the screen was a video of Ladybug kissing Chat to break the spell on him when Dark Cupid attacked. Ladybug started to blush as she stammered out that she had only kissed her partner to free him from the Akuma's control.

"Trust me Nadja, if we kissed for real, I would remember it. After all, who wouldn't remember their first kiss with a girl as beautiful as My Lady," Chat Noir purred.

"So does this confirm that you want to date Ladybug? That you are actively pursuing a relationship with your partner?" the reporter inquired eagerly. Chat Noir face blanched as he realized his mistake.

"I'm just complementing partner for beautiful looks, honestly."

"Chat Noir and I are superhero partners. We care for each other, as friends. Our job is to protect Paris and stop Hawkmoth. We don't have time for romance while we do our job."

On screen, Nadja looked down at her watch and listened for a minute to her boss. While no one watching could hear what was going on, Ning had really bad feeling.

Please, please don't push it. It's not worth the ratings to find the answers to your questions Mrs. Chamack, Ning thought to herself as she watched. Unfortunately her silent plea didn't come true.

"So if you're not romantically involved when you're on the job, that must mean you are when your civilians. Would you like to tell us about some of the dates you've been on?"

Ladybug stood up angrily, followed by Chat Noir, who had an expression of betrayal on his face. They had both agreed to this interview to help protect the citizens of Paris, and reassure them that they would be working day and night to find Hawkmoth. Not be hassled about if they were in a relationship with one another.

Ladybug's temper came out. "It is one thing to ask us about our actions as heroes, but it's a breach of our privacy for you to ask us about our civilian lives. It shouldn't matter if Chat Noir and I, are couple or not. We do our job and that's the most important thing."

The super heroine stomped off the set angrily. Chat Noir paused and turned to look at the reporter. "What's more important to you? Reporting the news or keeping a promise? You promised not to ask about our civilian lives, so I guess that answers my own question."

Nadja watched as the superheroes left. A few seconds later the broadcast stopped because they were having "technical difficulties." Ning knew what that meant.

"This isn't good at all," she muttered to herself. She held Nooroo's Kwami Charm in her right hand, willing a connection between the kwami and her. The charm gave her half of Nooroo's power. Hopefully it would be enough to find out what was happening.

 _"Nooroo, please Nooroo, if you can hear me, please give me a sign."_

 _"I can only whisper. Hawkmoth has…to akumatized…Chamack. Powers based on…media control."_

With that the message cut out. Ning was beside herself, what could she do to help her friends from so far away? She was very tech savvy, yet she wasn't skilled enough to hack a system in another country, to take control of the power grid.

Clutching Tikki's and Plagg's Kwami Charms, she sent them Nooroo's message and hoped they could get it to their wielders. All she could do was sit in her bunker and hope for the best.

Finally, two hours later, the broadcast came back on. On screen was Nadja next to a picture of what she looked like and that her akuma name was Prime Queen. She thanked Ladybug and Chat Noir for helping her and promised that next time she reported the news, she wouldn't stray from what was agreed.

"Thank the heavens, that's over. Hawkmoth is becoming bolder by the minute. I need to figure out how to get to Paris and soon."

* * *

Indeed, Ning wasn't the only one worrying about this. Master Fu was trying to decipher the Miraculous Book. Hawkmoth was gaining strength, refining his akumas. He might discover hidden abilities of the Butterfly Miraculous soon, if he couldn't decode the book.

Master Fu was hunched over his table. He had a pad of paper next to the book and was writing the translation from the book into English. It was slow going, as he had only learned part of the code, when he was very young.

Wayzz was sitting on his shoulder, trying to help him out. The kwami himself remembered more of the code, but it was still difficult to translate. The code writers had put in false codes or gibberish in case someone who knew part of the cipher, stole it.

After a few minutes passed, Fu looked down at his translation. He frowned as he read the first sentence. "The Butterfly Miraculous can create water to swim in, while naked? This can't be right."

"Another false sentence. What about the rest of the paragraph? Does any of it make sense to you?" Wayzz questioned his wielder.

Fu looked down at the paper and started to read from it again. "The cane that accompanies this Miraculous, has many uses. It can hold a Champions butterfly, view past events, and turn to a sword when necessary. Hmm, that is new information."

The old man continued to read what he had translated. The rest of the paragraph was missing key words, so he used his ancient wisdom to fill in the gaps. The paragraph contained much of what they knew, but there was another fact that they didn't know.

"The Butterfly Miraculous special ability is the gift of empathy. This gift is only available, at first, when the wielder is transformed. Over time, this ability will start to manifest when the wielder isn't transformed. Those who master this ability will be able to feel and influence the emotions of others, including other Miraculous users, in times of danger."

Upon hearing that Wayzz rubbed his little paws anxiously. Empathy was a powerful gift, and in the right hands, it could save many lives. In the wrong hands, if Hawkmoth was to learn to use his ability, as a civilian, he had the power to figure out Ladybug and Chat Noir identities.

If he masters his empathic abilities he could force a person to become angry enough to be akumatized. Nooroo gave half his power to Peace Keeper, would that prevent him from gaining full control? Wayzz wondered.

Master Fu, on the other hand, was wondering if it was possible for Ning, to access the special ability, through the Kwami Charms. If Ning could access the abilities, she might be able to block Hawkmoth, or even find him. The power of the Kwami Charms, was still a great mystery to him, even after all the years he had spent with them.

"It would appear old friend that our lesson plans for Ning, need to be adapted. As important as it is to learn the powers Hawkmoth has access to, we need to learn more about the Kwami Charms."

Wayzz shook his head and floated in front of his master and friend. His big eyes shifted into a stern look. "We need to prioritize. Hawkmoth is a bigger threat. We need to learn more about him, Ning will have to wait."

Master Fu said nothing, just got up and started to make some tea. He could feel Wayzz getting impatient. It was not often that Wayzz lost his patience. However, Master Fu was in no hurry.

After blending a special brand of tea, he resumed sitting and took a sip from his cup. He offered a second cup to Wayzz, but the kwami wouldn't take it. The old man wasn't upset and just continued to drink his tea.

This was a battle of resolves. Wayzz believed he knew best, because he was the Kwami and had several life experiences. Nooroo was his "brother" and rescuing him needed to be their main priority.

Master Fu, while much younger than Wayzz, had a better understanding of human nature. Incredible feats could be achieved if given the right circumstances. Being Ladybug had given Marinette confidence. While being Chat Noir gave Adrien a sense of freedom and worth.

Ning had grown much over the years, but only know was she truly understanding, what it meant to be an individual. To have her own thoughts and opinions. To become a Great Guardian, she needed to explore many different opportunities to reach her full potential.

After several minutes of silence, Wayzz antenna dropped. "You win Master Fu. For now we'll focus on learning as much as we can about the Kwami Charms." The old man gave him a small smile, enjoying his victory.

* * *

Dreams were an interesting phenomenon. In sleep, the minds creates images, to help us work through the problems of the day. Sometimes the subconscious mind imparts knowledge to conscious about something it missed.

Other dreams though, were more complex. Sometimes dreams carried messages or foretold an event that was going to happen. Other times dreams linked together helping the dreamers fix something together.

The most powerful dreams, happened to be the most vivid. In these dreams, a person could talk to a departed love one or a real person. If they dipped really down, they could even touch their souls or enter the dream realm itself. That is why it was so important to write down what you remember of your dream.

In his massive room, Adrien clutched his sheets tightly. His eyes were shut tight. His body was shaking a little bit, as he tossed and turned. His blond hair was starting to stand up as he gasped for air.

"No, no, stop!" he yelped in his sleep, waking up Plagg. The little kwami was annoyed and was about to nip Adrien's toes, but stopped when he saw what state he was in.

It has to be a doozy of a dream if he's this agitated Plagg thought. He blinked his green eyes and twitched his whiskers. The Kwami of Destruction weighed the pros and cons of waking Adrien up.

He was obviously greatly distressed and whatever he was dreaming, was causing emotional pain. On the other hand, Plagg had learned that there were times to help and other just to stay back. So the little kwami settle on the edge of his wielder's pillow and watch him for a little while. If Adrien didn't wake up at his usual time, he would do it for him.

Inside, Adrien's dream, the boy once more found himself directly in the dream realm, instead of his own dream bubble. Like before, he was standing next to the gateway. Pushing it open, he walked into a dream.

Adrien found himself inside a dark room, with large circular glass window. He tried to feel around the room, but his hands touched nothing. Suddenly the window let in light.

Adrien gasped. Hundreds of white butterflies flew all over the room. Standing in center of the light was Hawkmoth, well who assumed was Hawkmoth, as he matched the picture in the Miraculous Book.

"Ladybug, Chat Noir! How those children irk me! Their powers should be mine! My ultimate wish, I will stop at nothing to achieve it. Losing isn't an option for me." Hawkmoth talked out loud to himself.

The butterfly flitter rushed past Hawkmoth and started to swirl around Adrien. "No, No, stop!" he shouted as he tried to shoo the insects away. He screamed as he felt the butterflies landing on his body and start to change him. His body was growing and shifting, his clothes were changing.

Mirrors popped out of the ground, encircling the boy. Closer and closer they came until there was only enough room to stand up. Pushing himself upright, Adrien's eyes widened like saucers. The reflection seen in them couldn't be right!

On his right side, he was dressed exactly like Hawkmoth without the mask. On his left, he was dressed in his Chat Noir outfit except for his mask. As he leaned closer to the mirror, the image rippled. He felt his face changing and twisting.

Adrien took a step back knocking into the mirror. He jumped up and spun around. He tried to yell at what he saw, but he couldn't get anything out.

He had become Hawkmoth! He held the terrible cane as akumas fluttered around him. The reflection was talking, but he couldn't hear what he was saying. Turning all around, he saw panoramic sequence of events.

Adrien/Hawkmoth moved through the mirrors laughing until he entered the light. Ladybug was tired up and badly beaten. She was begging him, for mercy maybe?

The reflection ignored it, hurting her by smashing the pommel on her head. As blood oozed out of her skull, he tore the earrings off. Pulling the ring out of his pocket, he touched the two together.

There was bright flash as the mirrors shattered all around him. "Let me out of here, I don't want to see this anymore!"

In the real world, Adrien shot upright in his bed, panting hard. He rushed over to his mirror, checking signs for any cuts or blood. There was nothing and his face was normal. He looked down at his ring, happy that it was there.

"You okay kid?" Plagg asked from the bed. The little kwami was yawning and rubbing his eyes.

Adrien nodded his head and gave one of his fake smiles. "I just had a nightmare. It's over with. I'm fine." Deep down, he knew that hadn't been an ordinary dream. It was trying to him something.

Glancing at his clock, he still had some time before he needed to get up. So he laid back in bed. He could look up the dream symbolism later.

* * *

Back in the USA, Ning was stressing out even more. Ever since the USA and allies attacked Syria, the entire UN Security Council, had been in deadlock about how to respond, and what they should do, to finally end the war in Syria.

Some countries were arguing about doing a chemical weapon, while others wanted to work on the diplomacy angle more. The truth, was simply that the UN wanted to bring peace and justice to Syria, but were unable to agree on how to reach that goal.

"At least the Security Council agreed to a retreat in Sweden to take a break. Hopefully, getting away for a few days, will be enough to make the members more flexible on the situation," Ning mused to herself, as she finished her jog around her gym.

Since the Security Council had asked for her help with this particular issue, she had been super stressed. There was so much to think about and her loyalty issues to the world, kept cropping up, as she tried to figure out how to reach a conclusion that everyone could live with.

She was also anxious about wanting to start her new training regimen with Master Fu. The situation with Hawkmoth was getting worse. There was no doubting that it was taking a toll on Marinette and Adrien. Even Tikki and Plagg must be exhausted with all the activity lately.

To get rid of the stress, Ning had gone all out in her gym. So far, she had done five activities. The secret weapon of the UN Security council, after warming up, had down stair climbing, weight lifting, boxing, along with some rowing and her laps.

Walking over to a fridge, she grabbed two bottles of fresh water to cool down with. Her body was sore, but she felt so good. "I think I'm going to sit in my hot tub for a little while to relax and help with my sore muscles. Heavens know, I need to be a bit more relaxed."

A loud beeping sound started to echo over the gym. Knowing it was a message from her superiors, Ning got up and walked over to a video unit installed in the wall. Toweling off a bit, she stood straight and answered the call. "Peace Keeper here. I'm ready for my mission briefing."

The screen flickered to life and she was the French Representative looking back at her. She stiffened for a second before resuming her straight posture.

"Peace Keeper, I have new mission orders. As you know, the Council is going on a retreat to help break this deadlock. While your input has been helpful, we also believe you are in need of a retreat. I suggested you head to Paris, and it was agreed on."

Ning's eyes widen by a fraction of an inch. The Council had agreed to send her to Paris? Surely she was dreaming! "Sir, does the Council believe that I should investigate further into Ladybug and Chat Noir?"

The French Representative shook his head. "Right now, superheroes are the last thing on the Council's minds, especially since they're part of your network of Peace Keepers. You should talk to them about any new information they have collected."

"I will sir. Can you provide me with transport? I would like to get to Paris nippily." Her superior agreed and send he would have her transport ready in half hour. That would be enough time for her to prepare an identity.

Looks like I'm going to Paris after all, she thought to herself with mischief grin.


	3. Questions

At the airport, a young male individual, was gathering his bags from the baggage claim. There was nothing special about this guy. He looked like any white American on vacation. He hailed a cab, and was taken to Master Fu's business.

Paying the cab driver, the man got out and headed into the establishment. He knocked on the door. Master Fu opened it and looked warily at the man. "Can I help you with anything sir?"

Instead of a deep male voice, the man answered in a female tone, "May I please enter your domain Master Fu?"

The old man's eyebrows rose up high, he couldn't believe who was talking to him. He bid the man entrance, closing the door behind him. "I knew you were a master of disguise, but I never knew you could pass for a male so well."

"It comes in handy, when you visit male dominated countries," the man replied. He started to strip off his clothes, while taking off pieces of skin. Soon the Adam's apple was gone and the chest was unbound, revealing a pair of breasts. In a few seconds the disguise was completely off and Ning was standing before him in a casual blouse and slacks. She tied up her hair in a loose ponytail and slipped on a simple gold bracelet.

Wayzz eyes were still bulging. He never would have guessed that man was actually a young woman. Also he was confused. "Why did you come here as male American tourist?" It didn't make any sense.

She gave the kwami a flat look. "Because, it was the simplest way to get here, without drawing attention. I've been in this city three times, as a female. Each time, Marinette's best friend has tried to identify me. Coming here as a male, means I don't have to be on my guard, every single second."

Fu offered his pseudo granddaughter a seat, which she graciously accepted. Despite being on a plane for seven hours, the young lady appeared to be exhausted when standing up. There were bags under her eyes and her body seemed tense. Her body was really stressed out.

He didn't say anything, but Ning could feel his eyes scrolling over her. "Things have been really tense lately. My superiors said I needed to go on a retreat, to relax and clear my head. I took advantage of their offer and came here."

Fu tilted his head and smiled at her. He placed his right hand over hers, squeezing it gently. The simple act of love made some of the tension dissolve. Fu was pleased that he still could read people so well. "We, will begin your next stage of training, the day after tomorrow. I would like to wait until Marinette and Adrien have a day off. To my surprise, they have signed up to go to a fundraiser ball sponsored by, The Parisian School for Charming Young Ladies and Gentlemen."

Now it was Ning's eyes which widened. That was the charm school Chloe was attending, after the debacle of her father's akumanzation. From time to time, the secret agent had checked on Chloe's progress. The last time she had checked in, the girl had not been progressing well.

Master Fu laughed at her expression. Ah young people, always worried about what others were doing. While this wasn't the best time to add another activity into Miraculous wielders life, certainly this opportunity would have some benefits.

After a light meal, Master Fu told her what he had learned so far from the Miraculous Book. Ning was not happy to hear about the possibility, of Hawkmoth being able to control Miraculous users, through their own emotions.

"Having only recently learned about how embrace my own emotions, I would not want someone else influencing my actions. I was really hoping to relax a little before jumping into training, but it doesn't seem that's possible."

"Nonsense, we can do something relaxing and fun, Experiences help us grow and become better people." Fu stood up and stretched being careful of his back. He went to his room and came back out with a simple brown satchel.

"Shall we go out and enjoy the day?"

Wayzz clapped his little paws and Ning started putting her disguise back on. It was always a little weird going out as a man, but she knew that it was important to see and experience how people treated her, when they thought she was a man, instead of a woman.

They walked out of the building and headed to get a bite to eat and then go to a movie. Once again Master Fu, watched the disguised woman, noting the little changes in her body language.

In a male disguise; Ning walked with a strong stride and her shoulders were stiff. Her right hand was clenched while the left remained unfurled. Also, her eyes kept focusing ahead and not glancing around, like a woman would do, to check out for signs of danger.

Wayzz also noted differences in the way she talked. It wasn't just her deep voice, but her choice of words. She chose to use a lot of big words instead of simpler synonyms. She also spoke shorter sentences.

Ning knew that the kwami and Great Guardian, we're making observations of how when she was in a male disguise, acted a lot different than when she was a female. It was important that he understood her own yin and yang, to help figure out the best way to train her.

* * *

The next day at the charm school, Marinette was standing up in front of Madame Eugena, whose class was Proper Speaking, trying hard to annuciate her words clearly. "I am very delighted to greet you tonight."

Madame Eugena held up a hand and Marinette went silent. She tried to not fidget, as she waited to hear, what the teacher had to say. "You are doing a good job Ms. Dupain-Cheng, but you need to put more feeling into your words. You are greeting others at a special event. You need to sound as sincere and clearly understood, by others. Try again please."

Marinette took a deep breath and focused on sounding truly delightful. "I am _very delighted_ to greet you tonight." This time you could hear her putting feeling into the words. Also, she properly annunciated the important part of the sentence.

Madame Eugenia clapped her hands in delight. "Yes, that was much better." She looked at the rest of the students in the class. Most of the boys looked bored and Alix wasn't paying attention at all. It wasn't unusual to have a few students not pay attention. The teacher knew she had to make this more fun to get their attention.

She knocked on her desk, getting everyone's attention. With a grin she started to talk differently. "What's up students? Are you bored to death of my talk? Girlfriends, tell me who's the highest rank on the cutie scale? Boys, you look like your cred, has taken a nose dive. No freaking way."

Alix stared at the teacher before blurting out, "Whoa, no one talks like that now. You slang is really outdated and you are making a fool of yourself." As soon as she registered her words, Alix went pale. Why did she just do that?!

Madame Eugena laughed for minute before assuring the young skater she wasn't in trouble. "What I did was demonstrate how language can change over the years. How you speak to your friends today, will not be the same as the next generation."

She went on to say that while slang had a purpose when among close friends, it was important to remember when speaking with someone important or at an event, to talk properly, to reflect their intelligence and respect for others.

"This fundraiser ball is very important to the school. Many donors will be in attendance, along with officials, and your parents. How you perform will help show why the school is worth funding," Madame Eugena reminded them.

Most of the class looked at each other with guilt. After all, except for Judekael, they had all signed up to prove once and for all, they were not inferior to Chloe. They had nearly forgotten why the school was doing this.

Noting the change in the room, Madame Eugena went behind her desk, and picked up a box. Something was chittering inside and raised a few eyebrows. The teacher walked over and placed a hamster cage on each table along with a ball for the pets to play in.

"These hamsters are my beloved pets and will help you with our next exercise. Conversation starters can be overwhelming, especially if you don't know what the other person is talking about. I find that having practice conversations, over simple topics, help in confidence building. For the rest of class, I would like partners to talk about their hamsters."

Depositing the last hamster and ball on Chloe and Judekael's table, she told the students they could take the hamsters out, as long as they were careful and kept a close eye on them inside their balls. Hamster could easily injure themselves if they weren't looked after properly.

Adrien, was a bit taken aback, by how enthusiastic Marinette was when saw the cute little hamster. The name on the cage was Jiggles. "Oh, isn't he the cutest little pet you have ever seen? His golden fur is so beautiful. Oh, look at him run!"

The model studied the small creature. He had to admit those cheek pouches would come in handy if you needed a snack. "So, you really like hamsters?"

Marinette had stars in her eyes. "I've always wanted a hamster, but my parents said no. The bakery is not a place for pets. When I was younger, I would go to the pet shop and just watch them for an hour."

Jiggles nose perked up. Hamsters were nearsighted and color blind, so they mostly got around by their noses. Smelling the new humans, he scurried to one side of the cage, where he was gently stroked a crossed his back. He loved the attention.

While Adrien and Marinette were talking about how to take care of a pet hamster, Judekael was playing with the hamster, Wiggles, that was given to him and Chloe. The little guy was red and seemed to enjoy playing in his hamster ball. "He really seems to enjoy his hamster ball doesn't he?" He grinned as he watched Wiggles do a figure eight on the table.

"How can you even touch that dirty little rodent? Those teeth are horrendous. He smells bad, has he been eating garbage?" Chloe questioned in a high pitch voice. Clearly, she wasn't an animal lover.

Wiggles stopped playing and was hunkering down a bit. Hamster hearing was very sensitive. They could hear high pitch sounds and use ultrasonic sounds to communicate with others.

Judekael wrapped the ball protectively in his arms, whispering to Chloe to be a bit quieter for Wiggles sake. Speaking in a soft tone, he answered Chloe's questions.

"Hamsters can get dirty, but they do groom themselves up. Wiggles has these sharp teeth so he can dig and eat his food. Their so big because there constantly growing and needed to be worn down. He probably smells bad, because he went to the bathroom or ate a bit of his poop, to gain a few nutrients."

"GROSS! Keep that annoying little rat away from me." She shoved the boy towards the other side of the table. The sudden movement caused the hamster ball to drop on the table and roll towards Chloe.

Freaking out, the blond used her hand to knock the ball away from her. It bounced off the table, rammed it the chair legs, before being kicked by the backside of said girl's shoe and out the slightly opened door.

Everyone looked up from their table to see what was going on. Chloe was ranting about being touched by stinky little beast while Judekael asked for permission to leave and find Wiggles.

* * *

Unbeknown to the students at the school, Wiggles was full of anger and fear. He wanted to get away from the threat or bite the person who hurt him. Now, even though he was a little animal, he had emotions which attracted Hawkmoth.

"Hmm, animalistic rage. Primary fury, yes I can make use of this," the super villain chuckled as his little akuma flew through the city and quickly landed on top of the ball infusing with it.

The little hamster eyes narrowed as he listened to the voice speaking to him. What it was saying, Wiggles wasn't sure, but he understood the meaning of the communication. Someone wanted to help him. He let out a tiny grunt accepting the help.

When Judekael entered the hallway, he was stunned stupid as he watched a purple black smoke, cover the hamster ball. The entire school shook as the creature grew to the size of semi-truck. Wiggles was no longer red, but purple with black streaks and butterfly markings around his eyes.

His teeth were super big and sharp, his cheek pouches puffed out, as if he had something in them. His ball had also grown and now had spikes on it. With a high pitched squeal as Rollopolo, (it was written on the ball), tore through the school, destroying much of the building, as he rolled away searching for his target.

The staff of the school, went into action, helping the students' get of the building by a back stair case that hadn't been destroyed. Once all the students were confirmed to be there, the staff started calling their families to tell them their kids were alright.

"I'm not sticking around here. This is big story! Hawkmoth can even turn animals into Akumas! I've got to get this on film!" Alya exclaimed already taking off, she followed the path of destruction, with Nino hot on her heels, trying to bring her back.

"I'm going home. Hopefully, pest control can get rid of that awful creature, before it ruins the best shopping districts."

"Chloe! That's Madame Eugenia's pet! I don't think she wants him killed."

"Please Marinette, no one cares about that stupid beast. I bet even Ladybug and Chat Noir want it dead. Now excuse me." Adrien held Marinette back, so she wouldn't attack Chloe. They need to transform.

* * *

Finding a safe place to transform, Ladybug and Chat Noir started heading towards the Akuma. The heroine was determined to save the pet without killing it. Chat Noir hoped she knew what she was doing.

"So what's the plan My Lady? How do we stop a rolling ball of fluffy fur?"

"We'll think of something. Right now we need to focus on how to stop that ball from destroying anything else!" As she did a flip in the air, tossing her yo-yo forward, she wondered how Hawkmoth was controlling the pet.

In his lair, Hawkmoth was having a bit of trouble controlling Rollopolo. Animal minds and emotions felt raw and uncontrollable. He needed to gain control of the akumatized animal now. "Stop rolling all over Paris and go crush Ladybug and Chat Noir. They will be very tasty to eat," the supervillain told the animal.

He leaned forward, balancing on his cane. Sweat was starting to appear on the exposed part of his face. The butterflies sat on the rafters of the room, detecting fain pheromones, coming off from the human. The pheromones communicated fear, panic, and lastly, anger. Normal butterflies wouldn't have been able to pick up on the last one, but this flitter was an extension of Nooroo, so they could detect emotions as well.

"Stop going after cars! Attack Chloe Bourgeois, the human who hurt you remember?"

Outside Rollopollo stopped in the middle of the street, having torn it up and smashing some cars and buses. Sides of buildings had been sheared off. The Akuma hamster lifted its big nose and took a huge sniff out of the balls air holes.

The sniff was powerful enough it dragged the two heroes in as they hit the ball, barely avoiding the spikes. The impact really hurt and they were dazed for a few seconds. The loud chittering cleared the minds.

"Watch out for the teeth!" Chat Noir shouted as he jumped backwards, as the Akuma pet gnashed his teeth against the air holes. The animal shoved his body weight against the left side, causing Chat Noir to fall off.

Flipping around, he managed to land on his feet. He let out moan. It really hurt landing on his feet from that height. "Guess it's true. Cats always land on the feeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaakkkkk!"

The ball had just shifted to the right in an attempt to crush him. Only Ladybug's yo-yo prevented that. She had created a wire cage, pulling it closed with her strength. "Calm down little Wiggles! We can help you!"

The butterfly markings around the hamster's eyes glowed for a few seconds. Twisting about inside the ball, the spike on the wheel rotated, drilling a hole right into the subway, landing on top of the tracks.

The partners dropped down on the platform and watched in disbelief as big ball crashed through the train tunnels, heading towards whatever destination the monster pet had in mind.

"We'll have to use your night vision to find him. Hamsters love digging and creating burrow chambers for different purposes," Ladybug explained as she dropped down to the tracks. Carefully avoiding the rails, she tore through the partially destroyed tunnel.

"I should ask for overtime, this hero gig doesn't pay much," Chat Noir joked lightly. Ladybug groaned, then kept pressing on, trying to figure out where the animal was heading.

* * *

Rollopollo ignored the strange sounds in his mind, focused on the smell that irritated his nose. Yes! The female human's obnoxious smell was near. Twisting inside his ball, he managed to flip it, so now the spikes were on the right and left side, instead of the vertical he had been doing.

Screeching with excitement, the Akuma burst through to the streets. A limo carrying, Chloe, screeched to a halt. The driver went backwards, with the Akuma after them. He was gaining on them quickly.

Inside, Chloe was shouting at her driver, if he didn't protect her, she would have him fired for driving straight into the Akuma. "Why don't you just ram that creature? The plastic can't be too thick."

Trying to remain composed, the driver pulled a tight turn into an alley. "I believe you would be in more danger if that creature got out of its toy." He let out a surprise yelp as Rollopollo squeezed into the alley way after them. The critter was determined to get his teeth on Chloe.

Unfortunately the alley was a dead end. The limo became wedged in between a dumpster and awall. Seeing its prey trapped, the Akuma ran faster to crush the people inside.

That's when Chat Noir appeared, stretching his baton until it was tall enough to block the hamster ball. When it collided with the baton, it held tightly against the spikes. "Now, now, we don't want to hurt anyone here, do we?"

 _"Rollopollo, you will do as I command! Crush Chat Noir and bring me back his ring! Do you understand?"_ Hawkmoth shouted through the link. He could feel his link with the animal diminishing. He was losing control of his own akuma.

Rollopollo let out a screech as he started to furiously groom his face, tearing of the pieces of fur around his eyes. He started to scratch the sides of the ball in agitation.

Ladybug, who had dropped behind Chat Noir and rescued Chloe and her driver, was watching the poor hamster go crazy. "Poor thing, he's trying to Hawkmoth out of his head."

Chloe let out a sound of utter frustration. "Why does everyone care about that stupid little rodent! It's filthy, ugly, and smells so bad. That's why I had to protect myself when the stupid toy came towards me."

Ladybug looked at her as the answer came to her. "You scared and hurt the hamster didn't you? Those two emotions would have been enough to lure Hawkmoth in. It's been after you."

Chloe shrieked and order Ladybug to keep her safe while Chat Noir, beat the beast dead. She clung tightly to Ladybug, not letting the heroine go. As the sounds from the alley grew in intensity, the mayor's daughter kept backing up, dragging Ladybug. The spotted heroine was asking for the girl to let her go do her job.

"You need to get me to safety right now! The princess of Paris can't die as food for a dumb animal."

The heroine looked at the driver, giving him a pleading look. Understanding the situation, he removed his charge from the Miraculous user. Grateful for his help, she called out a thank you as she dove for her partner.

Chat Noir dived under the baton, before it snapped into two pieces, letting the huge pet crash into the limo. He jumped in the air, grabbing the two pieces and fit them back together.

Ladybug landed next to him asking if he was okay. "Fine, for now, but we really need to stop this not so little guy before he wrecks the entire city." He pointed to the ball saying that it was obviously the infected object.

"Agreed, but we can't destroy it with him inside. He'll take off running and block us from seeing the akuma. Time to see what I get for a Lucky Charm!"

In a flash of pink, two huge vegetable sacks fell into her arms, nearly knocking her down. Opening them, she saw one sack was full of peas and the other was full of wheat grain.

For once she didn't need to use her special vision. "I know what we need to do. All that running has used up the critter's energy. He needs a snack break. With his size, he'll bust out and come for the food."

Chat Noir snapped his fingers knowing the rest of the plan. The hamster's cheek pouches were legendary. While he would be stuffing the food into his cheeks, Chat Noir could destroy the ball and Ladybug would be able to catch the akuma and purify it.

"Hey, Rollopollo! Aren't you tired of all this exercise! I've got some yummy food for you!" Ladybug called out. She held out one hand so the critter could smell the food.

Eager for something to eat, the Akuma twisted around so he could pop the cover off. He ran towards the food, causing the ground to shake under his massive paws.

As soon as the Akuma started shoving the food into its cheek pouches, Chat Noir sprinted towards the huge toy. "Cataclysm!" Instantly the toy turned to nothing but rusted bits.

On top of Rollopolo's back, Ladybug saw the akuma flying away. "No more trouble from you little akuma. Time to devilize!" She purified the butterfly, watching as it flew away.

Reaching down she tore the sacks out of the hamster's mouth and tossed them into the air. "Miraculous Ladybug!" The loveliness of ladybugs flew through and under the city fixing all the damage.

Seeing how the hamster was about shrink, she jumped off and held out her hands as Wiggles returned to normal and started nuzzling with Ladybug, happy to be in her safe hands.

In Hawkmoth's lair, the villain picked himself off the floor. When the connection between him and the akuma snapped, the backlash sent him to the floor. "No, more animals. Their emotions are too complicated for me."

* * *

The next day, Ning was eating a banana as she waited for the teenagers to get out of school. The giant hamster akuma attack yesterday, had surprised both her and Master Fu. They hadn't realized that Hawkmoth would try to use empathy on animals to create new Akumas.

"I've read a book before about different types of empathy, but I didn't know the Butterfly Miraculous special ability, was compatible with animals." Pausing to take a bite of her banana, she looked at a page of the Miraculous Book.

It was a picture of a different butterfly hero and not the previous one Master Fu had been reading about. This illustration of the page showed the hero surrounded by butterflies. At the base of his feet, was a small dog, snuggling against his master's leg.

Her fingers touched the aged page, the texture felt bumpy and rough. Despite the book, being centuries old and the pages being faded, overall it was in great condition. "Master Fu? Could you take a look at this page please? There's a caption under the picture, but I can't read it."

The old man had just finished giving Wayzz some fresh baby carrots. He walked over and turned the book to face him. At least this part in code was something he knew. "I'm pretty confident on the translation. According to the writing, a Butterfly can use empathy with an animal, to make them a hero, but they must have a strong bond."

The door to the home twisted and in walked the young couple. They had heard the last part of the conversation. "So that explains about Wiggles yesterday. He could read the little guy's emotions, but he lost his connection because he wasn't close to the animal."

Adrien rolled his eyes and laughed. "The guy is trying to terrorize the city and steal the Miraculouses. I doubt he has time for a pet ha ha."

Marinette simply shook her head and sat down on her cushion. She greeted Ning who gave her a hug. After shaking Adrien's hand, the boy sat down and Master Fu started the meeting.

"We are facing a new crises. Hawkmoth has been experimenting with powers for some time now. I had hoped that when his plans failed with you Marinette, he would stop," Master Fu told the group. He took a deep breath and looked at the trio.

"Ning, you have half of Nooroo's power. Is there any way you can use it to hinder our foe?"

Ning shook her head. "The changes the power made to my suit drained a lot of it. I can communicate very rarely with Nooroo, but the connection is weak. The last time I communicated with him, was during the Prime Queen incident."

Tracing the charm, she could feel the slight hum signaling the charm's power. In her mind Ning pictured the little kwami all alone in Hawkmoth's lair crying. No one there to comfort you or even interact with you.

"I know how Nooroo feels and not because of any empathy." Ning looked out the window, her face sad. The others looked at her and sympathized because they knew what she was talking a bit. "Just like how I felt trapped, he does too. If Hawkmoth breaks his spirit, I wonder what will happen to him."

Tikki floated over and gave the young woman a tiny hug. The young woman tickled the little kwami's head. Tikki's giggles made the sadness to go away. Seeing her job done, Tikki returned to Marinette.

The bluenette raised her hand like she did at school. Fu and Adrien chuckled a little. "Yes, Marinette you have a question?"

"Yes, if Hawkmoth has a special ability, does that mean we have special abilities too?"

"Yes, you do. Ladybugs have unbelievable good luck, while Plagg's wielders can cause misfortune to others. Helpful abilities whether your transformed or not."

"Don't we already use those abilities while we're transformed?" Adrien asked. He was scratching his hair in confusion. Plagg snickered from the boy's lap, which was now covered with bits of cheese. "PLAGG!"

"What? You look great with cheese on you," the little kitty teased. Adrien swiped at him, but the kwami merely phased through his hand. "Alright, no need to get so violent. When transformed you two have the power of creation and destruction. While those powers, are connected to luck and misfortune, that's not their primary responsibility."

"Which is why their special abilities. These abilities are usually tied to symbolism of the animal the kwami looks like," Tikki explained. She clapped her paws to get Plagg to focus. "For example, ladybugs are considered lucky, so Marinette could draw on that to help her with something."

Marinette let out a huff. "If my special ability is good luck, why do I always trip or run late?"

Wayzz interjected, "It takes a great deal of practice and intense focus to use these abilities. Normally, a kwami wouldn't even tell their wielder about the special abilities until a year or two passed. We're in a situation, which forces you two to learn and master your abilities faster."

"So we're getting a power up. This is so cool!" Adrien pumped his fist. Marinette shoved her boyfriend off the pillow reminding him these abilities were to help them defeat Hawkmoth.

Master Fu went on to explain to the couple the first few steps about connecting to their abilities. That they needed to take deep breaths and achieve absolute focus to feel the connection.

As the duo worked on achieving absolute focus, Master Fu had a different exercise for Ning to work on. "I haven't gathered any new information about the Kwamii Charms yet, so I will be teaching you the beginnings of the code used in the Miraculous Book."

Wayzz added helpfully that the code was based on a mix of kwami and ancient dialects from Asia. He also warned her about how the code could be twisted around to trick her.

The language was also split between pictograms and letters, making it even harder to learn. Pronunciation and spelling was very important to learning the code. "I did my best to translate the code into an alphabet you could learn. Not everything could be changed into a letter."

"I understand. So what is the first letter in the alphabet?" she asked, eager to get started.

* * *

While the Adrien and his friends we're training, his father was up to something back at the mansion, and it didn't involve anything to do with fashion. It had to do with his "side job".

Gabriel Agreste was sitting at his desk reading passages from an old book. It was very old and the only copy of its kind. He had paid an enormous amount of money for the item, but it was worth it.

After the incident with Volpena, the designer had been curious to know if other so called heroes of myth and legend, had actually existed. More importantly, had they owned a Miraculous that had been repurposed in a story? Every story had a grain of truth to it.

The old book was a collection of ancient legends and narratives copied on to the pages as the writer listened to them through oral traditions. Many stories in the book were obscure and many didn't have important details. Still, this book was valuable research tool.

"The Legend of the White Butterfly: A Japanese Folk Story. A fascinating story. I wonder if the white butterfly could be related to Nooroo's flitter. If it's not, I'll be very disappointed."

The story itself was a reflection of Japanese culture, showing the close relationship between the people and nature. The story also reflect Eros and Psyche about the transformation of the soul. The folktale went like this.

* * *

There was once an old man named Takahama, who lived a very quiet life. Many thought it was strange that, although he had come from a distinguished family and served an apprenticeship for a powerful merchant, he chose the profession of a caretaker at a cemetery and lived in a very unpretentious house on the cemetery grounds, amid the tombs.

Since he had never married, his sister and her son frequently came to look in on him. It was a trial for them, as it was very unnerving to have an uncle who lived in a cemetery; the nephew frequently tried to make excuses to avoid visiting his uncle and always suggested that they invite the uncle to visit them instead. However, Takahama refused to leave the cemetery, even for a day.

One day his sister and nephew went to see him and found him mortally ill. As old Takahama fell asleep, a little white butterfly flew around the old man's face and rested on the pillow. The nephew was annoyed and three times tried to shoo it away; still the butterfly appeared determined to be near old Takahama. When Takahama drew his last breath, the butterfly flew out of the house.

Knowing that this might be an omen, the nephew followed the butterfly, which flew to the grave of a young woman named Akiko and then disappeared. The grave of Akiko was old and covered with moss. This Akiko had died some sixty years earlier, but still there were fresh, recently watered flowers by the grave. Seldom does one see such things on an old tomb.

The nephew came back and told his mother what had happened. The mother closed her eyes and smiled knowingly. "What was the name of the grave?" she asked. When the son said, "Akiko, she told a tale to her son.

"Many years ago old Takahama was hopelessly in love with a beautiful girl named Akiko, and they became engaged, but she died before the wedding day. Takahama could not bear to be separated from her and left his promising career to always be near her. Takahama would tend to her grave. In the spring, summer, and autumn, he always brought fresh flowers; in winter, he placed evergreen boughs on her tomb. This must be the first day that he has missed tending to her tomb in over sixty years!

That little butterfly was her soul. She probably was concerned when Takahama didn't show up today and decided that she should look in on him. And she didn't leave until his soul left to be with her."

The heart of this story was a lesson about _selfless_ love being stronger than death. Love defines Takahama in death as in life. Like Paris and Aphrodite, Takahama chooses love over wealth and power, but it is a selfless love not lust. As he is faithful to Akiko in life, so she is faithful to him in death.

Gabriel closed the book and sat up in his chair. Grabbing a tissue he carefully wiped away the one tiny tear coming from his right eye. The story, didn't appear to have anything Miraculous related to it, but the white butterfly and the meaning of selfless love that was important to him.

* * *

"My Emilie, while our souls may be parted, we will be reunited together, just as Takahama and Akiko, only it will be in the living world instead of the afterlife."

Nooroo poked his head out of his master's shirt pocket. He knew his master would be angry with him, but he felt had to help his wielder to see the difference between the legend and the present day circumstances.

"Master," Nooroo voice squeaked. Gabriel looked down at his kwami, a slight bulge forming on his forehead. He hated it when Nooroo started asking questions. "Yes Nooroo?"

"The legend was very interesting, I just think that maybe you didn't understand the meaning. Do you know what the story is trying to tell you?"

Gabriel pinched nose in frustration. "I understand the meaning very clearly _Nooroo!_ " the man hissed in an icy voice. "This legend is about the love a man had for his almost wife. He spent his life tending to the needs of her tomb and was rewarded for his dedication. It is sign that I'm on the right path to reclaiming my own wife.

The akumas and the destruction brings me each time closer to my goal of regaining my wife and making my family complete again. Anything that I have done wrong will be erased, so there will be now pain or hurt. How is any of this not _selfless_ love?"

Nooroo shook violently and decided to pop down back in the pocket. He wasn't brave enough to point out to his wielder, he was being selfish. Trying to bring back his wife from death or limbo, would only cause more pain and hurt.

The departed needed to stay on their side of the cycle of love and death. To return from death, would through the cycle off balance. Creating akumas and endangering people, including his own son, wasn't love at all.

Still angry with Nooroo, the man tapped the com unit on his desk. "Nathalie?"

"Yes, Mr. Agreste. What do you need me to do?"

"Cancel my order of yogurt for the next month."

"Of course Mr. Agreste."

Satisfied that Nooroo would stop questioning him about his intention, because of withdraw from his food source, Gabriel looked forward to having some peace and quiet. He would only withhold it for a few days. He needed Nooroo at full strength to become Hawkmoth.

With a cold smile on his face, he returned to reading the book. Hopefully, he would find something extremely useful. He wouldn't let anyone stop him from getting his wish.

* * *

Two days later, Marinette was bouncing up and down in her bedroom squealing in delight. It was her birthday! The one day of the year a person could feel special and super loved. "It's my birthday! It's my birthday yeah! I can't wait for the party!"

Tikki floated in the air, her antennas twitching. "I don't believe I've ever seen you this happy before. This must be an extra special birthday."

"It is! My grandma is coming! She's always traveling so I can't wait to see her. Its been years since she visited us. She's so cool and we always have the best time together," Marinette explained as she stopped jumping.

Tikki observed her wielder daydreaming as she thought about what her grandma might have gotten her for the girl's birthday. The little kwami knew her holder had a very active imagination and was probably hoping for trip in another country with her beloved relative. Tikki though about her own family and how different they were from humans.

Human families had such complex relationships. Some had super strong bonds with each other. Then there were families where no one got along. Families that were made of blood while others were made from love.

Kwamiis had a slightly different view on family. Each Kwami was born from an abstract idea. When enough Kwamiis were born, whose purposes related to one another, they became a circle or "family" making them all brothers and sisters to one another. Other circles became "cousins".

Pushing those thoughts aside, Tikki cleared her throat. "I have a birthday present for you Marinette. It's something very special that a Kwami gives to their wielder, when they have proven themselves worthy of their power and love."

Marinette held out her hands, excited to see what Tikki had for her. She didn't expect her kwami to dance around and then spit into her hands. Marinette tried to not look disgusted. To her amazement the spit harden into a little jewel shaped like half of yin yang symbol. "What is this?"

"It's a Kwagatama. It's very special and will help you become stronger. Not right now, but soon. You should hurry up and get ready for the day. I'm sure your grandma will be here soon!"

* * *

Later in the day, feeling restless and needing a break from learning the code, Ning donned her male disguise and decided to walk to the park. She knew that today was Marinette's birthday. While she couldn't attend the party, a little walk past the celebration couldn't hurt.

When she reached the park, she paused at the gateway looking in. There were colorful streamers and lots of balloons. Nino was up on the stage doing his DJ gig. Some of the kids were dancing while others ate the wonderful food. There was a table with lots of presents. Even a rented photo booth.

Everyone seemed to be having a good time, except the birthday girl. Marinette had a frown on her face and looked distant. She was holding a tiny shirt in one, clutching it tightly.

"I wonder what's wrong. This is her special day and Marinette looks like she wants to be somewhere else."

The disguised female heard the sound of an engine gunning it and coming this way. The back of her head was itching and her hidden charm necklace started to vibrate. There was an akuma near!

Ning ran into the park and hid behind some trees. The Akuma looked like a witch riding on a flying motorcycle. Whoever this lady was she was very furious with Marinette.

Instead of backing away, Marinette tried to get closer. It appeared she was trying to apologize to the Akuma, but was being constantly interrupted by said being. The only clear word that got out was "grandma."

"That lowlife target Marinette's grandma? Ugh, I have to do something, but what?"

Chaos was breaking out as Befana started firing her gun turning people to coal or angels. Marinette escaped with Chat Noir, but the Akuma and her minions went chasing after them, heading for the Eiffel Tower.

Several minutes later, Peace Keeper arrived at the plaza surrounding the Eiffel Tower. Tapping the sides of her mask, one of her new filters she had gotten from Nooroo, activated. This filter allowed her to see magical energy. It had limited range, which was why she couldn't use it to track down Hawkmoth.

Through her filter, she saw Befana chasing after Ladybug and Chat Noir battling the angels. She could also tell that the heroes' magical energy was low, while the Akuma's was still running high.

"Time to test out that new feature to my suit," Pressing on a small button on her belt, she felt a tingling sensation followed by a soft hum. Walking over to one of the big lights that showcased the tower, she looked for her reflection in the glass, but it wasn't there.

"Test one on the invisibility tech, so far so good." She made her way into the tower and up to the floor Chat Noir was on. The boy was outnumbered and needed help.

Chat Noir was swinging his baton around, trying to bat away the angels. He was running of space to move. "You really think you can corner this cat? I've got more tricks up my claws then your wings."

Joking aside, he was in a precarious situation. One of the angels was flying towards him when the person was knocked out of the sky, thrown up against a beam before sticky substance glued them to the beam.

Chat Noir jumped over the angels, hoping to escape, but one caught his tail and was pulling him back to the edge. The boy thrashed around, trying to his tail loose.

Again, something forced the angel to let go of his tail. The angel appeared to be in combat with something, when the minion was thrown backwards knocking into the others.

There was sizzle and then snap, as Peace Keeper materialized right before his eyes. "Dang it, look like the tech needs to find a better power source. Well don't just stand there, go help Ladybug!"

"Yes Ma 'me!" Chat Noir saluted her as he raced to help his partner, leaving Peace Keeper to deal with the angels. She continued to fight them and preventing them from helping Befana.

Ten minutes later everything was back to normal, and Peace Keeper had vanished. The teens looked for her, but didn't find her. They assumed she went back to Master Fu's shop.

When the returned to the park, the party was in full swing. A light show was happening, and Marinette started to open all her presents. All of them were thoughtful and wonderful gifts. She really liked the lucky charm Adrien had made for her.

When she got to the bottom of the pile she noticed a small box with a ribbon around. It was addressed to her, but there was no name, just a doodle of a peace sign. Curiously, Marinette opened the box, and was surprised by what was inside.

It was stamp, with the words, "Original Design by Marinette Dupain-Cheng," carved on the bottom. It also came with a pink ink pad. Now, Marinette had to ability to personalize some of her designs.

"What a thoughtful gift. Whoever gave you that, must think highly of you," Grandma Gena told her.

Marinette smiled and hugged her grandma whispering, "Yes, she does."


	4. Helpful Hints

When the morning sun fell on Ning's face, the young adult squirmed under the light. She rolled over on the cot, trying to get away from the sun, but it was no use. The warmth of the sun made going back to sleep impossible.

Getting up, she headed to the small bathroom Master Fu had and took a shower. Staying with Master Fu for her time here, was nice. She didn't have to worry about being spotted outside her disguise or hiding any of her stuff. In truth, she hadn't felt this secure and happy, since she was a little six year old in Beijing, being protected by Master Fu after being attacked. Those were happy memories.

Once she was cleaned and had some breakfast, she went into the main area. Master Fu was already reading the book, as Wayzz did his best to help with the translation. They both appeared to be lost in their own world.

"Good morning, Master Fu. Have you had breakfast yet?" she asked politely.

Master Fu smiled at her. He offered her some tea and she accepted. "Of course my dear. I thought you would be sleeping in after yesterday. After all, you worked on trying to repair your suit's new tech till midnight."

"No, I was running a diagnostic on the tech, until midnight," she replied in a cheerful voice, showing that she was just being playful by correcting him.

She sat down on the cushion and pushed a strand of her hair back behind her ears. "The tech is a prototype from a tech lab in Mexico. They're trying to develop an invisibility unit, so they can infiltrate and bring down cartels."

Wayzz was intrigued by what Ning had said. He could see how this tech would be extremely helpful. Smugglers could be caught, human trafficking would decrease greatly and hostages could be saved from dangerous situations. Many lives could be saved.

Still, there would be downsides as well. Invisibility could help killers, kidnappers, and saboteurs. If Hawkmoth had such tech, he would have a great advantage over the heroes.

Wayzz hadn't realized he was speaking out loud until Ning assured him the tech wasn't fully developed. Being invisible didn't cover up being heard when moving. Besides, she hadn't tested it against any sensory devices yet. The little kwami was happy to hear it would be a long time before the technology could used properly.

"I only used it yesterday, because it was helpful. The technology still has a long way to go before it's fully functional. "

Master Fu interjected telling the duo it was time to work on translating more of the Miraculous Book. They were on a tight schedule, not knowing when Ning would be called, back to active duty.

Ning was excited about this. She wanted to be more useful. However, Master Fu told her she still had a ways to go. "I want you to practice some more with the code. You still need to memorize the alphabet and writing the symbols correctly. Only then can you work on speaking and reading it properly."

* * *

Sad and frustrated, Ning did as she was asked. After all, with her perfect memory and omniingual skills, she should have this mastered shortly. She bent over a piece of paper and started writing. She stuck a tiny bit of her tongue out as she tackled her new assignment.

The code had the same letters from the English alphabet, at least from A to K. Then the code switched to little pictures that resembled objects or shapes. There was one that looked like an upside down triangle and another shaped like a cup. The code returned to letters picking up at where it left off. That ran until they reached U. Then there were hanzi from ancient China that finished it out.

Ning's brow furled as she looked at the tricky code. At least Master Fu managed to translate it into letters for the most part Ning thought to herself. Softly, she started to sing. "A, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j k, upside down triangle, cup, diamond, reed, square, leaf, rectangle, water droplet, trapezoid, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, hanzi, hanzi, hanzi, hanzi, hanzi, hanzi."

This is going to be harder than I thought. These hanzi's are ancient and I'm not sure what they're expressing. They don't match up exactly with any hanzi I've seen before. China has changed these symbols so much over time they might not match anything I'm familiar with. Then the little pictures, I have to figure out what they represent.

All morning, Ning practiced the alphabet, singing softly to help memorize it. As she practiced it, the picture symbols began to make sense to her. The pictures were like hieroglyphs, the pictures represented different letters from other languages. The shapes represented different vowels found in Spanish, and the objects corresponded to the first five double consonants, found in the Italian alphabet. That was suprising considering the code orginated in entirely different language family.

Grabbing a translation dictionary from her bag, Ning settled back down to figure out the hanzi. She always carried a dictionary with her. She knew the language, but if she was working with a regional dialect, she liked to have it on her side. Hopefully, I can find something similar to help with the translation she thought to herself, as she thumbed the pages in her dictionary.

It took a while, and rereading several pages in the dictionary, before she found six hanzi's that looked similar enough to the ancient ones in the code. The first three hanzi corresponded with the emotions: love, anger, and sadness. The other three hanzi were for moral, good, and evil. Essentially these hanzi connected to the purpose for creating the Miraculouses.

Hours ticked by as the Guardian and Apprentice worked on the codes. Master Fu was so absorbed into his work he didn't realize it was lunch time until Ning brought out a plate of sandwiches. His stomach chose that moment to growl in hunger.

"Hungry?"

"Ravenous. Sometimes I get so caught up in what I'm doing, Wayzz has to remind me to eat," he relied with a chuckle. He picked up his PBJ sandwich and took a big bite. It was delicious and he complimented her.

Ning blushed slightly saying it was easy to make sandwiches. "Making fancy food for an important meeting, is hard. My kitchen isn't really big enough to practice often." Taking a bite out of her own lunch, she slid a piece of paper over to him. When her pseudo grandfather looked at it, he was visibly impressed. Even Wayzz's eyes went wide.

Not only had she learned the alphabet, but she had written the pronunciation over each letter/picture/hanzi. Beneath the alphabet that Master Fu had written, was her own perfectly formed alphabet and a few sentences. It was very clear she had mastered the code in all three forms.

"I knew you were gifted with languages, but you are the quickest to learn this code, or rather, what I remember of it. It took me a year and half to get this far. You only took a few days."

"Indeed, I think the Order would have been impressed."

Ning looked at Wayzz puzzled. What did he mean by Order?

Wayzz realized his mistake. He shouldn't have mentioned the Order! Not yet anyways. "Why don't you help us with some of these pages? We could really use your help with them!"

Reluctantly, the UN agent didn't press any further. Instead, she took pictures of some of the pages, with her special tablet, so she could begin translating the pages. Her pages were mostly text with only one tiny illustration on the last page. The image was faded so it was hard to identify what it was.

Setting up a translator program, she highlighted the texts and applied the code into the program, creating a split screen. The top part was the original text and the lower half was the translated text.

Tapping on the screen, she went through each paragraph carefully. The code translation was incomplete, due to the fact that Master Fu and Wayzz, couldn't remember all of it. When she came to a word that her tablet couldn't translate, she ran comparisons in other languages while also trying different ciphers.

With the help of the ciphers, little by little she was able to translate more. Slowly, the paragraphs were starting to make sense. Some words were impossible to translate. Using context clues, she insert the most likely translations.

The pages she was working on appeared to have more gibberish and false codes then previous pages. Ning was determined to find a way to spot a fake sentence or know when a false code was inserted into the paragraph.

"Alright, first thing to do is write out what I have already, then compare it the hard copy to see how well it matches up. Then insert the words I think are the most likely translation, and few other possibilities. Finally, look to see if there's a pattern when it comes to the false information," Ning said to herself while stretching.

After making several cups of tea and grabbing some fruit from the fridge, Ning settled back down to work. She was so focused she didn't hear Master Fu getting up and heading to his room to rest for a time. His back couldn't take sitting down for so long. Wayzz was moaning about a slight headache he had from staring at the Miraculous Book for so long.

Hours passed and still the UN agent worked on the information in front of her, only taking a few bathroom breaks. It was getting late, almost eleven at night, and Ning was refusing to get some sleep. Master Fu had attemptd to guide her to her cot, but she had shaken him off. It was now Wayzz's turn.

Wayzz floated over to her and got into her face. "Ning, it's late, you've been working all day, with little rest. You really should go to bed." The little turtle crossed his arms and gave her a pointed look.

She returned it with a pleading expression. "Wayzz, I can't stop now. I'm almost finished figuring out how to spot when a fake code is being used. If I go to sleep now; I'll forget it."

The little kwami bonked her forehead with his antenna. "Becoming a Great Guardian means knowing when to rest. Drop what you're doing and go to sleep!" His voice was a little louder and harsher.

Obediently, Ning put her stuff down and headed for her cot. Watching the whole exchange, Master Fu barely managed to hide a chuckle. He had been scolded by Wayzz many times in the past, but now it was his apprentice's turn.

"She'll learn when to not push him."

* * *

That night, Ning had difficulty sleeping. The pages she had been working on, kept popping up in her dreams. The pages swirled around her and then smacking her in the face.

She tried pushing them away or tearing them apart, but the pages floated just out of her reach. It almost felt like the pages were taunting her. She jumped up to grab one, but once again it floated out of reach.

"Stop teasing me! Come back here and let me study you!"

The pages floated closer and turned into origami shapes. When the folding was complete there was an origami panda, elephant, and a magpie. The animals started to bleed with color for a few seconds. Then the origami animals landed in Ning's hands as she studied them. They were very detailed oragami animals.

The black and white panda was cute and was in the middle of eating bamboo. Instead of sitting, it was standing up and strangely around its panda thumb, which in reality was an extra-long wrist bone, was some kind of jewelry. Looking closer, it appeared to be a chain of sorts with a tiny duel colored stone in the center. This confused Ning. "Why would the origami animal be wearing jewelry?"

The other two, a brown elephant and a black, white, and blue magpie also had jewelry on them. For the elephant, the jewelry was ancient time piece, a sundial on the wrist. An early version of a watch perhaps?

The magpie was wearing some kind of head gear, perhaps an early version of a hat or decorative scarf? She wasn't sure why these animals had appeared before her or why they wore jewelry pieces. Ning bit her lip knowing these animals were a message of some kind.

The animals cried out in their voices and then the pieces crumbled into dust. Ning sneezed repeatedly. The dust was swept away by a light breez. She started running after the dust cloud. "What are you trying to tell me? Please I want to know!"

The palm of her left hand started to burn. Clutching her wrist, she whimpered as the sensation rose up through her hand, branding her with a mark. Looking down at the mark, she gasped.

"The illustration from the pages, I can see it properly now! What does this mean? It's just a picture of a sigil. I don't know what it's for!" The mark burned again causing her more pain. She couldn't take it. She let out a scream and her world faded into darkness.

Ning's eyes opened widely as she started to struggle to get out of the sheets. She shoved and twisted, until she rolled on the floor finally free. It was still dark out and her clock told her it was three thirty a.m.

Holding up her left palm, the moonlight sparkled on the non burnt skin. The mark she had in her dream, was gone and it appeared her skin had never been burnt. "It was just a dream. Nothing hurt me," the young woman whispered to herself.

Still, her heart was pounding, her body trembled. She felt actual tears falling down her face. Her lungs couldn't get air fast enough. The dream upset her more than she realized. She had to regain control.

"In out. In out. In out. There is plenty of air to breathe. There's no pain and I'm fine." She repeated the mantra several times. Slowly, the tears stopped and her body stilled. Her heart returned to its normal rhythm.

Taking a deep breath, she stood up straight and let it out. "I just need to splash my face and go back to bed." She took one step towards the bathroom, then stopped.

She could feel a tugging sensation in her body, coming from the main room. It was so powerful, she couldn't ignore it. Her mind relaxed as she entered a trance. Just like when she was six years old, she walked into the room where the Miraculous Book was. Robotically, the UN agent walked over to the table.

The Book was glowing white brightly. There was a hum in the air, which got louder and louder, as she approached the Book. Ning touched the object and opened it to the pages she had been reading and translating earlier.

The script was no longer in code, but plain glowing English. As she committed the pages to memory, the glow grew dimmer. As soon as she committed the last paragraph to memory the Book shut itself and the glowing stopped. The agent sank to the floor as slumber took over her once more.

* * *

A few hours later, Master Fu and Wayzz woke up. Translating the Miraculous Book would have to wait another day, considering Fu needed to be open for business. Hopefully, their guest would feel like helping out today.

When they entered the main room, they saw Ning sitting next to the table. Her expression was furious. The air was thick with a sense of hurt and betrayal. Wayzz himself could feel Ning's spiritual energy and it was very agitated.

The kwami looked down at the table and saw the Miraculous Book open to the pages from yesterday. Only instead of being in code, the pages were now in English and the illustration of the sigil was cleaned up, showing it was actually a hanzi for guardian. This scared the kwami greatly.

"You lied to me. How could you lie to me?! I thought you were the one person in the entire world, I could count on and I find that you have been lying to me. How do you think that makes me feel?" Ning shouted. Both the Guardian and the Kwami jerked at her words.

Shoving the Miraculous Book towards her pseudo family member, she got up and started to pace angrily. "The books, the charms, your teachings, I thought I knew everything, but I barely had one fact!"

"Ning please, talk to me. What have I lied to you about?" Fu asked gently. He knew what this was about and she had every reason to be angry at him. There was reason he and Wayzz didn't tell her the truth yesterday.

"How about the fact that they're more than seven Miraculouses? That the ones I know about belong in one circle, the most important and powerful universe circle?" she snapped. She stood still and her tone became cold. "Apparently the safe house was actually a training temple where Guardians were trained and Miraculouses were experimented on? Because of those experiments the Kwami Charms came into existence?"

She reached up to snap the charm necklace off, only for Fu to stop her at the last second. His grip tightened on her wrist. Ning tried to break free, but to her surprise, the old man was a lot stronger than he looked. No wonder he had been chosen as holder.

"I know you're angry and upset. You have a right to be. I didn't want to burden you with the whole truth, until I thought you were ready. Thanks to Wayzz slip-up, I have no choice, but to explain everything to you."

He let go of her wrist and walked over to the disguised Miraculous Chest. After punching the code in, the box rose out of its hiding spot and he collected it. The weight of the chest was heavier than usual, as the burden of the truth hung heavily around his heart. This secret would not be easy to share with Peace Keeper.

Ning watched as Master Fu opened up the chest revealing the Miraculous she knew about. Then he started tapping the sides of the box and new compartments opened up revealing twelve more Miraculouses. A quick glance told her they all corresponded to the Chinese Zodiac. Nestled next to each Miraculous, was a corresponding Kwami Charm.

Even dormant, she could faintly hear the slumbering Kwamies. Their Charms glittered brightly. She wondered what each Miraculous could do.

Master Fu cleared his throat and pointed to top layer. "As you know, Kwamiis are little gods that represent abstract concepts. You also know an ancient wizard created the Miraculouses, giving them substance and form for humans to see."

Ning nodded, having read this part before in the little books about the Kwamiis and their history. She understood that the creation of the Miraculouses was one of the biggest feats of magic ever, but she had thought only seven abstract creatures had been selected for the honor.

"The ancient wizard was able to craft many different Miraculouses over his life time. Whenever he came across a new abstract idea, he would work night and day until the Kwami and Miraculous were united as one. Near the end of his life, he knew he would need someone to guard these magic items, perhaps even craft more if necessary. So he trained an Apprentice to be the next Guardian."

"So was that when the Order of the Guardians was created?" Master Fu shook his head and explained the Order of the Guardian came to be many centuries later. Fu paused for a moment, his mind going back in his memories as he was taught the history of the Guardians.

"I told you the truth when I said there was always one Guardian and one Apprentice. Over the centuries, as the world grew, the Miraculouses needed to be spread far and wide. At times, they were all in different parts of the globe. To ensure the return of the Miraculous, the Order was formed and the Miraculouses divided into circles, so that one Guardian was always watching over them."

That made sense to Ning. She had seen firsthand how the Miraculouses powers could be used for great good and great evil. Having one person guarding a set of Miraculouses lifted the burden of constantly traveling and distribution of the magical items. The Kwamiis themselves would have someone nearby to help them if their chosen ran into a problem, which required a Guardian's intervention, to solve.

Fu opened the Miraculous Book and flipped through the pages until he came to afolded up page, which actually folded way out. It showed the Order of the Guardians temple and complex, including buildings dedicated to learning and experimentation of the Kwamiis. There were barracks for living, training areas, and a library. Everywhere one looked, they could see subtle hints of the Kwamiis presence.

"The temple and the complex took many years to build. The monks needed to a place where magic was very strong, but also difficult to get to for security. It also couldn't be too remote, otherwise they wouldn't be able to gather trainees or send the Guardians out. Once it was finished, the monks brought the first trainies to it."

Wayzz floated over to the fold out and pushed a tiny bit of magic into it. The illustrations came to life. Ning watched in amazement as the figures started to move around and talked softly. She wastched as monks of varying ages went about their daily chores, while the children were practicing defending themselves. It took a whole five minutes before she spotted a few women working near the kitchen.

"The Order of the Guardians temple was a place of study and training. Many young boys came here to train and become Miraculous users. I admit there were only a few girls, which made all of the Kwamiis upset. We needed a diverse range of possible wielders. No matter how hard we pleaded, the monks were very strict when it came to tradition."

Ning gave Wayzz a sympathetic smile and turned back to the fold out. She wished society was like the Kwamiis. They didn't care about gender specifics. Turning her attention back to the Book, she watched as time passed, the temple growing and different wielders coming and going. Her fingers tapped the library removing the roof.

Inside she could see old men taking turns to write in an ancient book. She was startled to see it was the Miraculous Book and it kept getting fatter and fatter as new information was added.

Tapping the building again the roof reappeared. She then tapped the buildings dedicated to learning and experimentation. Inside, she saw a room where the elders were talking with different Kwamiis in one room. In another, the Kwamiis were being told to do all sorts of tasks. The little gods had mixed expressions on their chibi heads.

Another room drew her intention. Inside, there was Wayzz. He was standing perfectly still as the monk worked on a small metal piece giving it details. Finishing up, he showed it to the turtle kwami. It was his Kwami Charm!

The monk touched it to Wayzz forehead. The monk chanted a spell and suddenly the kwami shook all about. To her horror, she saw the magic from Wayzz was being drained into the Charm.

"Stop it! You're hurting him!"

"Ning, calm down, this the past. It already happened and it's over with," Wayzz reminded her. It didn't seem she heard him as she continued to shout at the living illustration.

Wayzz closed his eyes and focused his power over spiritual energy. Ning's energy was wild and all over the place. Directing his own energy at her, he mixed the two together and slowly the young woman's energy calmed down. He smiled, pleased that the young Apprentice was balanced once more.

Ning wiped some tears off her face. She scooped up Wayzz and hugged him tightly, causing the little god to gasp for air. He was let go and Ning looked sheepishly at him.

"Why would you agree to something that caused you such pain?"

"Because, I didn't know it would hurt. I was the first one to have a Kwami Charm made. The monks believed that if the trainees had a chance to practice with part of Kwamiis magic, they could tell who would be a good wielder. Also, they were made for the purpose you learned about."

Wayzz admitted it was a painful process and that he had felt drained after the creation. It was also weird to sense his power split between two objects. There was something good that came out of it, the Kwamiis accessed new abilities, including to be able to hold human form for ten minutes.

"The Kwami Charms we're very helpful in the long run, but their success lead the Order of Guardians down a dark path for fifty years," Master Fu informed her.

Tapping the illustrations, he sped up the time. The events showed the Order teaming up different Miraculous in ways that wouldn't ever work. Like the Black Cat Miraculous paired up with the Turtle Miraculous.

Destruction and Protection, misfortune and spiritual energy, they were never meant to be used together. Destroying things left little to protect and protection couldn't stop destruction forever. Misfortune caused corruption of spiritual energy.

The monks experimented even further, forcing Kwamiis to try entering other Miraculouses. Creating spells that were dark. Even using the Miraculous to impose their will on others. The Guardians saw themselves as the world's Peace Keepers, and only they had the right to decide how the Miraculouses would be used.

It took a brave Order member to set things right and banish the monks who created the chaos. The young man had risked his life and the trainees to restore honor to the Order of the Guardians. Because of what happened, new spells were placed on the Miraculouses and to the Kwamiis to prevent something similar from happening.

"It was around this time, the Miraculous Book was lost, leaving the Order with only a few stray pages and the little books about the Kwamiis. The Order stopped experimenting with the Kwamiis and the Miraculouses. The elders vowed to never hurt anyone again. They also started the hunt to retrieve the book, so the magic inside couldn't be used for evil.

Throughout the centuries, a few more bad times happened, but that's life. Then, I made a huge mistake by trusting someone I shouldn't have. It lead to the discovery of the temple and its destruction. As the temple was being destroyed, I gathered as many Miraculouses as I could and fled. The Kwami Charms were already attached to the box thankfully."

The illustrations stopped moving and returned to being pictures. Master Fu folded up the pages and closed the Book. He looked at his Apprentice and told her that when he fled to safety, he vowed to make sure this would never happen again. He would make sure he found the right person to be his Apprentice.

"The Order of Guardians did many good things, but that didn't erase the bad things that were done. The Order's arrogance nearly cost the world to lose the most important creatures to ever exist," Fu explained. He closed his eyes and lost himself in memories once more.

His training days, the temple, and his mistake. The stories about the Miraculous Book being stolen then lost for many centuries. Struggles to decide where a Miraculous was really needed. Years passing without the Kwamiis seeing each other. The sadness and secrets hidden by the elders.

"This is a heavy burden to carry. To know, the Order of the Guardians, didn't always have pure intentions. By cutting themselves off from the world, many crises that could have been resolved peacefully were not. As the next Great Guardian, you will bare all of that history on your shoulders. It is not an easy task."

Seeing the old man looking down at the floor in misery, Ning went over to him and gave him a hug. No matter what the truth was, Ning would gladly take on this burden one day, so her friend wouldn't have to carry it on forever.

* * *

At the Agreste Mansion, Adrien was practicing on the piano. He had fallen behind on his practice and he wanted to improve before his father noticed the difference.

Usually the music from the piano helped soothe Adrien's frustrations and sadness. It even helped calm his nerves. However, no matter what he played, he couldn't find peace within himself.

The teenager slammed his fingers on the keys in frustration. The noise was loud enough to wake Plagg from a deep sleep.

"Why did you have to do that Adrien? I was dreaming that the entire Earth was covered in cheese," the little kwami whined.

Adrien rolled his eyes, not bothering to respond to the question. He went over to his arcade games and started blasting as many aliens as he could on the screen.

It was somewhat relaxing and he started to feel a bit better. Then he looked down at the screen and froze. Once again, he saw half his face as Hawkmoth's. He dropped the blaster and backed up.

Plagg blinked his eyes as he saw Adrien in the early stages of a panic attack. Sweat was starting to cover his body as he breathing became hard. Plagg's ears even detected the sound of Adrien's heart speeding up.

The little kwami flew over to his wielder and tried to help him. "Adrien, everything is okay. Take some deep breaths. Think of something happy and you're heart will stop racing. Nothing in this room will hurt you."

The rich boy did as he was asked and slowly came out of the panic attack. His heart stopped racing and he could breathe again. "Thanks Plagg."

"You're welcome kid, but what happened? I've never seen you have a panic attack."

Adrien rubbed the back of his head and mumbled about what he saw when he was playing the game. He tried to laugh it off, but Plagg could see right through him.

Adrien turned away from his kwami, not wanting to be seen as weak or vulnerable. He couldn't understand why he kept seeing things that weren't there. First, they were in his dreams, and now he saw them when he was awake.

"I'm not going crazy. I need to stop thinking about that stupid dream. I'm never going to be Hawkmoth, so there's nothing to worry about," Adrien told himself quietly.

He sat down at the piano again and started to play. It wasn't any song, just some random notes. He tried to not think about the strange dreams and the hallucinations.

None of it made any sense. He had looked up the meanings behind the key items in his dream. The symbols he saw represented safety, protection, and his true persona. Why would being in Hawkmoth's lair make him feel safe? He knew he hid part of himself, but why was his face changing into Hawkmoth's?

There was a knock on the door and abruptly Adrien stopped playing the piano. His father entered the room, a slight frown on his face. "Adrien, you're supposed to be practicing music and not trying to come up with an annoying jingle."

Adrien bowed his head submissively. "Sorry Father, I was thinking about something else. I'll do better."

His father nodded. "Try not to think about anything except playing the piano perfectly. After all, perfect practice means you achieve your goal sooner than later."

The man left the room leaving Adrien saddened. The teenager wished he could talk to his father about what was bothering him, but he couldn't. His father wouldn't try to understand or help him.

Plagg watched his wielder start playing again. He wondered if he should mention the panic attack and strange dream the next time they visited Master Fu.

* * *

It was another day in charm school and Marinette was actually enjoying the class. Today, she was in Presentation. This class was devoted to making sure a person had the right looks, clothes, and poise, for any occasion.

This was also the only class that had two teachers. Madame Osanne and Monsieur Dorian had separated the couples, each taking their own gender into different parts of the classroom, and started teaching them.

Madame Osanne was talking about different hair styles they could have for the ball, using a wig to demonstrate, when Alix snorted. The teacher turned to look at her. "Is there a problem Ms. Kubdel?"

"Yeah, I don't understand why hair styling is so important. I dyed my hair back to pink because I couldn't stand the mousy brown it was. I want to stand out, not fit in."

Chloe laughed at her. "The only thing that stands out is how short you are. I can't imagine you ever looking like a girl."

Alix seethed and was tightening her fist to throw a punch at Chloe. Madame Osanne clicked her tongue, drawing the punk girl's attention. "Violently responding to comments, means you are a hothead. If this was an interview, would you try to punch the person interviewing you?"

Alix mumbled no and put her fist down. Chloe was about to make another comment, but was reprimand for her uncalled crass remark. Hurtful comments made people feel bad and displayed immaturity. The blond girl muttered something to herself as she sat up a bit straighter.

"I understand the need to stand out. At the ball, you want to display what makes you special. Ms. Kubdel, you may keep your hair in your preferred color, but styling it sophisticated manner can help you. People are less like to pay too much attention to your hair, and pay attention to what you have to say, as long as it corresponds to a dress code."

She removed the wig she had on the bust and replaced it with a pink one. "Alix, would you come over and show me what style you would wear at the event, if you couldn't have your regular style?"

Alix stood in front of the bust staring at the wig. She wasn't good with girly stuff, but she still wanted to impress Kim. She liked him a lot and he was a good competitor. Still, he didn't see her as a girl. Alix was tired of being "one of the guys".

Looking at the styling tools on the table, she picked up a fluffy brush and some hair gel. She combed the hair down until the bangs were framing the face. With the help of the scissors she shaped the hair into a cute and sassy crop held together by a light layer of gel.

Alix stepped back and waited to see what the teacher had to say. Madame Osanne inspected the hair with a critical eye. A smile appeared on her face. "Excellent work, Ms. Kubdel. You picked the right style for your hair type and styled it in a way your pink hair will still stand out, but not be to attention grabbing."

She passed out more busts with wigs that matched the girls' hair styles. She also placed some basic make up next to the best. "Please show me what you plan to look like at the ball. Work on your poise by sitting straight when you can. Does anyone need help with make up?" Alix and Mylene raised their hands.

"I'll teach you the basics. By the end of class, I want to see how well each of you did."

While the girls were working on their busts, the boys were being lectured about proper attire. "You, are young gentlemen whether you believe that or not. Each of you have the ability to clean up and show how mature and respectful you can be."

Ivan raised his hand. "Monsieur Dorian, I understand the importance of wearing a suit. How do I find one that can accommodate my body type?" He had tried to find a suit for a school dance and ended up going in his usual attire because nothing fit right.

Nino commented that the suits he worn before were confining and he felt ridiculous in them. Either the color was ugly or it had too many buttons. The other boys added in their own complaints.

Monsieur Dorian clapped his hands breaking up the discussion. "I understand how you feel. Having the right suit sends a message. To make sure you are sending the right kind of message, there are a few helpful tips."

He went over to the white board and drew three different suits. "The first step is to find a suit that matches the occasion." The teacher wrote under the three suits, which occasion they were best for different occasions.

"Also, remember what you want in the suit when it comes to fabric, buttons, and lapels. You should also consider your body type when thinking about one or two breasted jackets and make sure the vent is proper for the ocassion. The sale's person can help you with your cuffs and pants."

The boys wrote everything he was saying into their notebooks. Suits should fit to their exact measurements and bought at a reputable store. "We have a tailor right here at the school. He can alter your suit to your particular needs. This will help ensure the suit fits, is comfortable, and appears respectful."

Monsieur Dorian passed out some pamphlets that covered the tips he mentioned. The pictures and lists would be a big help in finding the perfect suit for each gentlemen. He eyed Adrien and spoke, "Mr. Agreste, I assume you have been suit shopping before?"

Adrien nodded. He had several suits for different occasions and even had model some of them. When Monsieur Dorian suggested that he should take the rest of the boys with him, a huge smile lit up on the blond's face.

"I'm sure I can convince Nathalie to schedule a shopping trip for all us." The boys were pleased by that. Adrien wouldn't let them look like fools.

* * *

Suit shopping would have to wait for a day or two, because the next afternoon Ladybug was running across rooftops with Adrien in her arms, being chased by a metallic fencing Akuma named Riposte.

"How did we end up in this mess?" Ladybug moaned, as she slid down a roof top and jumped across the street, narrowly avoiding the Akuma's sword. It sliced clean through a chimney destroying it. Riposte looked unhappy at missing her target.

"You're the one that declared the match a tie," Adrien pointed out, his blond hair blowing in the wind. He looked past his girlfriend and saw Riposte gaining on them.

"You're the one who asked me who won your bout and you know I was having trouble with the scoring system!" she replied harshly glaring at him. The truth was, they were both responsible for this mess.

* * *

An hour earlier, Marinette had been at Adrien's fencing lesson. Mr. D'Argencourt had an open spot on his team and was allowing others to try out. Marinette had no interest in joining the team, she just wanted to learn how to fence.

So while the other's tried out Adrien was giving her lessons. The scoring system was confusing, because in fencing, the score was kept by who had the right away when the fencers landed a touch, in a scoring area.

It was very confusing, especially to a beginner. So when a female fencer named Kagami Tsurugi tried out for the team and got into a bout with Adrien that went all over the school, everyone got stuck together trying to watch.

Marinette had been the only one to watch the whole fight, being the only other female there, she was able to use her small size to get past the group and watch the match. She was trying to remember the rules as she ran to keep up with the two.

When Adrien and Kagami both touched each other at the same time, she didn't have a clue who won. So when she was asked what she saw she simply said she thought it was a tie.

Apparently that wasn't the right answer, because Kagami respectfully explained it wasn't possible to tie. Since Marinette didn't know who scored and Mr. D'Argencourt hadn't been able to see the full fight, he told Kagami regrettably, he couldn't give her the spot on the team right away, as he had to test the other people trying out.

Kagami had down played her hurt feelings and left. Adrien went after her to bring her back, so they could have a rematch in front of the instructor. Marinette had transformed and followed behind, hoping that the female fencer wouldn't attract an akuma.

However, she didn't get there fast enough and now the Akuma was after them, hell bent on defeating Adrien in a fight and proving she was the best fencer ever. Hence, Ladybug running away with Adrien in her arms.

* * *

"You will not escape me Adrien Agreste!" Riposte shouted. She leaped across the rooftops and thrust her sabre forward, a shock wave emanating from the tip.

"AHHHH!" Ladybug screamed as she and Adrien crashed to the street below. The magical suit protected her from getting hurt, but Adrien landed on his left ankle, the one he had previously sprained, when Marinette was an Akuma.

He hissed in pain. It was throbbing and he couldn't tell if he had sprained it again or if it was just badly bruised. He hoped it wasn't the first one considering the problems that came from a second injury to the same sprained area.

"Adrien, can you walk?" Ladybug asked anxiously. Riposte would be on them in seconds if they didn't get a move on.

Her boyfriend shook his head. His ankle had become overly sensitive, he didn't think putting weight on it, would be a good idea. He thought about transforming, but remembered the warning about fighting with an injury.

Another shock wave came at the du,o sending them flying further down the street. Ladybug used her yo-yo to pull a car in front of them, to avoid another shock wave.

Riposte sliced through it and her ruby eyes lit up, seeing her target lying on the ground a few feet away. "This should be an easy victory for me."

" _Forget about having a rematch and get Ladybug's earrings before Chat Noir shows up!"_ Hawkmoth shouted at her. In his lair, he was seething a bit because Riposte hurt his son.

Riposte did as commanded. She thrust her sabre forward, aiming for Ladybug's right arm. The super heroine blocked with her yo-yo and kicked her left leg out, trying to knock the wind out of the Akuma, only for Riposte to block it successfully.

They continued fighting for several minutes. Ladybug was tiring and she could get to the sword and forcefully yank it off Riposte's body. Of all the times, Adrien had to be injured, he had to get hurt with a fencing Akuma attacking?

"You're weak and no challenge Ladybug. You are not a warrior at all!" Riposte declared as she tried to cut Ladybug's left arm off. "Where's your partner Chat Noir? Is he too afraid to face me?"

"No! He'll be here! I can count on him!"

"Of course you can My Lady!" "Chat Noir" stated as he leapt off a nearby roof, in midair he broke his baton in two and hurled them at Riposte who had to turn to deflected them.

The baton pieces twisted through the air and back to "Chat Noir" who caught them with ease. He laughed at the Akuma, who attacked him.

The feline hero dodged the attack and did a few back flips until he was next to Ladybug. "I've only got eight minutes left and Peace Keeper is too far away to make it here to help, "Chat Noir" whispered to Ladybug.

Ladybug nodded as she looked back and saw Adrien had dragged himself behind a car. Riposte could easily slice through it and hurt Adrien. This fight needed to end now.

"Lucky Charm!" The magic swirled in the air and dropped a heavy radiator in her arms. "Why does it have to be so heavy?"

Riposte was coming at them again and "Chat Noir" intercepted her with his baton. The two of them pushed against each other as Hawkmoth commanded Riposte to get the ring.

"Chat Noir! I need you to Cataclysm when I tell you!"

He nodded and called on his power, waiting to use it. The fight was moving to the curb and the hero saw a small crack in the sidewalk. Understanding what the plan was, he allowed himself to be pushed back.

"Now!" Ladybug shouted.

"Cataclysm!" The crack widened and crumbled. The fencing Akuma lost her footing and fell backwards on her back. The radiator was then shoved over her sword arm.

The duo used their combined strength to pull the sword off the arm and destroy it. One cleanse later everything was back to normal.

Using his power in human form, "Chat Noir" had to dash away before he turned back into Plagg. Ladybug stuck around, making sure Kagami was okay and encouraging her to go back to the school, to see if the instructor had finished testing the others.

Kagami promised she would. A small smile appeared on her face as she watched Ladybug swing away. Walking over to Adrien, she helped him stand up on one leg as she guided him to a clinic to get his ankle checked out. This was the start of great rivalry between the fencers.


	5. Practicing

The heroes were all at Master Fu's place training themselves in order to get stronger. Hawkmoth was getting stronger and closer to unlocking new powers and they needed to get there first.

Marinette and Adrian were sitting on their pillow seats, trying to connect with their special abilities. Neither had achieved absolute focus, but they were getting closer.

Ning, on the other hand, was trying to use two Kwamii Charms at once. Thanks to the Miraculous Book, Master Fu had discovered this possibility. It would be a difficult task to master, considering each Miraculous and kwami were very different.

"Concentrate on two charms, try to think about the balance. You have four charms, one set of partners. You know the combinations that work. Call upon the power in each hand," Master Fu instructed.

He observed carefully as Ning closed her eyes and stroked the Kwami Charms. The tactile connection helped her feel the magic inside of them. Tikki and Plagg's charms started to glow brightly. Holding out her hands, the young woman curled her fingers upward, willing the magic to flow down her body. Sparks started to appear in her hands. Slowly the sparks started to come together.

"You're doing fine Ning. Don't force the magic through you, let it flow naturally."

"Picture what you want to happen in your mind. It will help you concentrate better," Wayzz advised her. He was sitting on the Miraculous Chest. His antenna twitched as he measured her spiritual energy levels.

I can do this, I can do this Ning repeated in her mind over and over. She could feel the sparks getting bigger and bigger. The magic was gaining more power. Just a little more and she could use the magic.

At that moment, the magic started to fizzle and go down. She tried to keep it going only to fail as the magic retreated back into the Charms. Opening her eyes, Ning frowned in frustration. "Why is this so hard? I've managed to keep both Plagg and Tikki in human form at the same time before."

Master Fu scratched his chin, thinking the situation over. He snapped his fingers when the answer came to him. "In that situation, _you_ were powering the Kwamiis with your life force. In this situation, the _Kwamiis_ are the ones lending you some of their life force to grant you magic."

Tikki and Plagg floated over upon hearing their names. Tikki perched on Ning's right shoulder, Plagg on the left. Tikki gave her a look of encouragement, Plagg muttered to her he would need a lot of cheese as compensation. Borrowing their life force through the Kwamii Charms was a taxing job.

"Really Plagg, you need to stop thinking with your stomach so much," Tikki scolded him.

"I suppose you don't trick your user into giving you extra cookies now and then," Plagg snapped back at her. Tikki flushed white making Plagg smirk. "So you do take advantage of her once and while."

"Can you two please stop talking? We're trying to meditate here," Adrien snapped at them. He turned his head to face forward again, but his concentration was blown. After a few minutes, he gave up trying to meditate. He started pacing the room angrily.

Sensing her partner was upset, Marinette stopped what she was doing and opened her eyes. Adrien was scowling and kept muttering to himself, saying he was failure and stupid for not getting this.

His girlfriend tried to stand up only to find her legs were asleep, so she sprawled out on the floor. As she rubbed them to get feeling back in them, Adrien bent down and helped her up, holding her steady until she could stand on her own.

Marinette thanked him and fiddled with her hair. She blinked her eyes a few times, then poked her fingers together, something she didn't do often or at all. Her foot started to tap the floor. Something was going on in her mind.

Master Fu, had seen this behavior before. It was the behavior of someone who wanted to say something, but was very afraid to speak up. "Marinette, my dear. If you have something to say, you should share it with the rest of us."

"Well, it's just, no it's silly, yet maybe I should, oh I'm so confused!"

Tikki rolled her eyes and reminded her holder, there was no such thing as a bad question.

Marinette just blurted it out, "Well, since Adrien and I are having trouble with our special abilities, maybe we could work on mastering our defensive moves?"

Adrien looked at her confused, Ning wondered what she was talking about, and Master Fu was having trouble remembering, what the defensive powers were and the phrases to activate them.

"Defensive powers? Plagg, what is she talking about?" Adrien looked at his Kwami was a curious expression.

"Kid, you need a good offense to fight, but a defense if you're trapped in close corners."

Tikki stated the Miraculouses had both offensive and defensive powers. It had been a long time since they had been used, for the simple reason most wielders believed, they could win every fight, without needing them. The two heroes had never asked about defensive powers, so the two Kwamiis never mentioned them.

Adrien asked how his girlfriend knew about these powers, and she explained, they were the result of the merger of her souls during the splintering incident. She had a faint memory of fighting in another soul's world and seeing them being used. "I don't remember the words to activate them, but I do recall that unlike our offensive powers, defensive powers won't activate the countdown."

Master Fu nodded at Marinette and picked up the Miraculous Book. He flipped through some pages until he came to a page with an illustration of the Miraculous users using their defensive powers. Thankfully, he could translate this page without any trouble. "Defensive magic doesn't require nearly as much magic, as an offensive one. The point of having them, is to give the heroes, protection until they complete their mission."

Wayzz added that they could only use their defensive powers once in a fight so they should only activate them in the direst of circumstances. The defensive powers lasted up to ten minutes, giving them time to figure out how to win.

Ning looked over her mentor's shoulder and reading about the defenses and what the key phrases were. "According to this, the Ladybug defense is Warning Spots. The spots come off the suit and forming a wall or trap around the enemy. Sometimes, the spots will even attack to give the wielder a better chance to escape."

She showed them the picture of a past Ladybug using this power. Marinette was intrigued by the possibility of using this power. Adrien was squirming around as he waited to know about his defensive power.

Master Fu read out loud, "The Black Cat Miraculous defensive power is Feline Bluff. According to this, Feline Bluff makes the user two times bigger as well as scarier. Their shadow turns into cat to make them look more intimating."

It was hard to imagine Plagg being intimating. The kwami puffed out his chest saying his true power came out when he was in the Miraculous.

"These powers seem to be easier to learn, but there has to be a catch. Besides only lasting ten minutes and one time use," Marinette stated knowing how tricky it could be to use their offensive powers.

"The drawback of using these powers; is you have to use _your_ own energy to power it. You'll feel a bit exhausted and slower, which is why you need to figure a way to win quickly," Tikki told the two. "Kwamiis have incredible stamina, but our magic has limits, such as when you use your special offensive powers."

"That why we can give you the magic to use the defensive power, but you have to be the power source," Plagg added helpfully.

Which meant they had to improve their stamina if they wanted to use these powers and still have enough strength to fight afterwards. Ning gave the teens advice on how to improve their stamina.

Master Fu told them training was done for the day. They should all get some rest. They could practice more another day. The teens thanked the Great Guardian help as they left for home.

* * *

The next few days were an intense time between Great Guardian and Apprentice. Now that Ning knew about the other Miraculouses, she wanted to learn more about them and their Kwami Charms.

Master Fu had brought out the chest once more and had opened the compartments with the Chinese Zodiac circle of Miraculouses. Unlike the Universal circle, there were twelve of them. Another difference was all the Kwami Charms were two toned just like the Miraculouses.

Ning gently picked up three of the Zodiac Miraculouses and studied them carefully. They were so old she wasn't sure what type of jewelry they were. The Miraculouses were also two colors. The tiger one was magenta, with a yellow green paw mark on it.

A look at the Rat Miraculous showed it was Spanish gray with Gainesboro gray markings. As she held the Miraculous it felt very light and smooth.

The Dog Miraculous was raisin black with buff colored beads with gray dog faces. Though it was tricolor, the first two were much more prominent.

She put the Miraculouses back in the box and took a closer look at the Kwami Charms. She knew each charm resembled the kwami it corresponded two. As she studied them, she had to admit, they didn't exactly look like the animals they symbolized.

For example, the dog kwami didn't even have a nose on it. The ears also weren't spread apart, but attached to the head making it look super big. The paw/hands didn't really look like paws.

The rat kwami had the wrong proportions and ears. Rats didn't have rounded ears like mice, they were more oval shaped and tilted backwards on the head. The tail was fur covered not naked. The whiskers and the teeth were the only thing that was rat like on the charm.

The tiger kwami didn't have stripes all over their body and the mouth shape was wrong. The body was thin and the tail looked to be arched. Tiger's generally held their tails slightly above the ground, not all the way up.

"I can barely feel the dormant powers or the Kwamiis in their Miraculouses. It's almost as if they're in a coma instead of just sleeping," Ning remarked as she put the Kwami Charms back into the box and closed all the compartments.

Master Fu nodded in agreement with her. "Each circle, when dormant, sleeps in different stages, due to their connection to an abstract idea. The universal circle, is the one most often needed, so they slumber closer to the stage of waking up. The Chinese Zodiac circle isn't called upon as much, so they sleep very, very, deeply."

Wayzz floated in front of her and told her that his "cousins" needed a lot of rest in order to be active for a long period of time. Past wielders often mentioned that the Kwamiis in this circle, either overslept or overate, often at the expanse of their wielder.

"The Miraculouses are so old. It's harder to determine what kind of jewelry they are. Do you know what powers they have?" Ning asked politely.

Master Fu shook his head. "I'm sorry Ning, but I was only in the third stage of training when I became the Great Guardian. I hadn't learned about this circle yet. Wayzz helped to finish my training, even if it was incomplete. There are somethings Kwamiis know or somethings the Guardians only knew."

Both humans' eyes flickered to Wayzz. He reminded them he wasn't at liberty to share everything he knew about the other Kwamiis. All he could tell them was their powers could be unpredictable at times.

It was clear that both Master Fu and Ning we're extremely disappointed about the news. Ning ran her fingers through her hair as she recalled the dream she had. "Master Fu, Wayzz, I have a question?" The bonded pair smiled and waited for the question.

"The night he Miraculous Book revealed to me the truth about the Guardians, I had a very vivid dream. In it, three origami animals landed in my hands and they each had on accessories."

Master Fu and Wayzz looked at each other, puzzled by the news. Why would paper animals be made with accessories on them? Unless, they were wearing Miraculouses, which would mean the animals represented Kwamiis.

Wayzz fetched some paper and colored pencils for Master Fu. Fu thanked him. "I'm not much of an artist, but I want to you describe in detail, what you remember about these origami animals and their accessories."

Ning described the panda wearing the chain with the duel colored stone. Scrunching her head, she finally recalled the color the chain as being palladium and the jewel was obsidian with a snowflake pattern on it.

Master Fu had a hard time drawing an Asian elephant in different tones of brown. The tricky part was getting a bronze sundial watch around its left front leg. After bit of erasing and changing some of the lines, the elephant was finished.

Describing and illustrating the magpie was the easiest animal to do. It was the animal that had stood out the most to Ning. Master Fu had also had seen pictures of the bird before and better talent for drawing feathers, then folds of skin.

The description of the headgear was accurate. Ning recalled the head gear reminded her of historical clothing worn in Eastern Asia. She didn't know for sure which country, but the jeweled part seemed to be a small cluster of sardonyx gems.

After putting the finishing touches on the drawing, Master Fu asked his apprentice if these matched what she saw. She squinted at the drawings, trying hard to see how the animals looked when not made of paper.

"These look accurate to me. The panda's chain is the right size. The sundial watch was a bit bigger, but looks pretty accurate. Huh, I didn't notice before the gem cluster resembled a bird," she remarked.

The animals indeed seemed to be wearing Miraculouses. A closer look at the accessories, showed the jewel on the chain was shaped like a panda's face. The dial was really a god like elephant.

Master Fu shot the turtle kwami a look. Wayzz shrugged his shoulders. "There are thousands of abstract creatures and they all take different animal appearances. The mage made a large amount of Miraculouses. The Order didn't know how many and even us Kwamiis were unsure. There were several circles, but I don't know them all."

Master Fu tugged on his goatee thoughtfully. "The Guardians did have a habit of keeping different circles apart after the dark period. They thought it would be unwise to tempt fate."

Ning touched the Miraculous Book and attempted to will it to the pages she wanted. Peridot Turtle had mentioned she had done this before. However, the tome refused to do her bidding.

Frustrated, the UN agent counted to ten. Why was the Miraculous Book being so difficult? It made her want to pull out her hair. "If these animals really are representations of Kwamiis and Miraculouses, we should keep an eye out for them. The Book might even reveal their location someday."

* * *

At the charm school, everyone was in the formal dining hall. In about a week and half, the fundraiser ball would commence. So far, all the students had been doing well, even the ones who just signed up for the ball.

Madam Isura and Monsieur Jerome watched as the students warily sat down at their assigned tables. Several students looked nervous about the upcoming lesson, Formal Dinning Etiquette. This class was the most important one for the ball.

"Good day students. With the fundraiser ball so close, we've decided today all students should be practicing for the dinner and the ball, so today this will be your only class," Monsieur Jerome informed them. He watched as several students twitched or had anxious looks on their faces. He shared a teasing look with his sister, who hid a chuckle. Nothing scared teenagers more than getting a scolding for horrendous table manners.

"Please, calm yourselves. I know this sounds very scary. That is the reason we are spending all day on this class. The other teachers have each been assigned a table, and will help you if you find yourself in trouble." He clapped his hands and the other teachers went to their assigned tables.

Marinette was thrilled that Madam Eugena had been assigned to the table. She had been so grateful when Ladybug and Chat Noir had returned Wiggles to her, she had given the heroes honorary certificates declaring them to be graduates of the school.

Everyone at the table straightened their posture and kept eye contact with the headmistress and owner of the school. The headmistress asked them to all stand up, push their chairs in, and walk back into the hallway so they could practice their proper entrance into the room.

As the students entered the hallway, their assigned teachers lined them up in order of table numbers. Adrien and Marinette's class was at table seven. The couples were told to stand next to their partners, girls on the left, boys on the right. The boys were instructed to hold out their left arms and their girls to loop their right through them for escorting each other. Adrien held out his arm and Marinette was about to take when she felt somebody yank her from behind.

She stumbled backwards, falling on top of Judekael, sending them crashing to the floor with a loud thump. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to push you down," she told the boy frantically.

"It's alright, I wasn't expecting my partner to forcefully switch places with you," Judekael told her in a tired tone. He pointed behind Marinette, who turned her head, forming fists with her hands.

Chloe had locked her arms tightly around Adrien's. She pulled him closer to her and was flirting with him. You could see on the model's face he was very uncomfortable.

There were the sounds of light footsteps coming to a stop, as Madame Eugena walked over and demanded to know who was causing the disturbance. "We're about to make our entry to the dining hall. Who is causing so much commotion?"

Judekael and Marinette stood up and apologized for causing a ruckus. Madame Eugena raised an eyebrow. These two were not assigned partners. Her eyes looked to right and saw Chloe and Adrien together. She frowned, upon seeing the mayor's daughter once again, forgot proper etiquette.

"Ms. Bourgeois, you are partnered with Mr. Chevalier, not Mr. Agreste."

"No I'm not. Marinette agreed to switch with me, right _Marinette?"_

Marinette started protesting. "You call yanking me backwards and crashing into someone as switching?"

Chloe smirked and held tighter on Adrien. The boy gave the teacher a pleading look.

The teacher didn't have time to play games with the mayor's daughter. She forcefully pulled Chloe off Adrien and made sure she was holding the arm of the correct person. Hissing into Chloe's ear if she didn't behave, she wouldn't be allowed to come to the ball at all, no matter who her father was.

The students started to proceed into the dining hall. The host siblings greeted each pair and the couples thanked them for the inviting to the dinner and ball. A slight bow and curtsy, the students proceeded to their tables.

The boys pulled out the chairs for the girls and helped them into their seats. The girls thanked the boys for being a gentlemen, which allowed the boys to take a seat.

After everyone was seated, the hosts went to the main table and raised their wine glasses. The legal age for drinking in France was eighteen, so the students had sparkling cider in their glasses. The hosts gave a few toasts before saying bon appetite. Since they weren't serving any food today, the teachers explained placement of plates and utensils. For example; the dinner knife was on the right next the soup spoon. After finishing, the knife and dinner fork, lay parallel on the right side of the plate.

Madame Eugena also showed the students how to properly unfold their napkins before placing them on their laps. Plates of food would be passed out counter clockwise. "Remember students, you may not ask for seconds and should finish everything on your plate."

"Exactly how do we reach for things without knocking something over?" Mylene asked politely. Her arms couldn't reach forward very far. Most likely she would have to lean in to get the pepper and salt. Even the butter tray was out of reach.

"You generally ask for others to pass items for you. Each of you are fifteen inches apart from one another, giving you enough room to reach items easily without causing accidents. If, you do need to reach for something, you do it like this."

The teacher demonstrated to hold their arm in the air, the elbow bent slightly, but not on the table and gently move your hand until it reached the object she wanted. Delicately, she pulled on the tablecloth. When the glass was in her reach, she wrapped her fingers around the stem.

"Pull the glass back to you, while using it to unwrinkled the table cloth. Once you can lift it up to your mouth, carefully adjust your elbow and take a sip. Repeat the process to put the glass back. Are there any more questions?"

Each student had a question ranging from the order of meals to what was the proper way to excuse yourself to use the bathroom. Adrien asked about the menu, concerned about people with food allergies.

Madame Eugenia assured him, that plates with alternative foods for those with allergies, would be made in a separate kitchen, to avoid accidental food contamination.

Marinette was happy learn if someone got a stain, the staff would do their best to get it out quickly. If they couldn't, alternate clothes were available for use.

"Madame Eugenia, how long will this dinner take? I want to be able to dance without feeling bloated." Chloe stated.

"As you recall, everyone was given the details of the ball the other day. You will arrive at five. You will greet the media, be announced and then spend cocktail hour meeting and talking with other guests. At six, dinner will be served.

After dinner, the ball room will be opened at seven and last until nine. Afterwards, we'll have a small ceremony to congratulate each of you and giving out your certificates. We'll also reveal how much money we've earned.

By ten we should have finished with the ceremony and you may leave at the time with your families to go home. I'm sure they will enjoy the dinner ball as much as you do."

* * *

It was barely after breakfast the next day, when Ning got a call from her superiors. She went into the bedroom area to accept the call through her special communication device.

The French Representative appeared on the screen. "Peace Keeper, your retreat is over. We have a new assignment for you. North and South Korea are about to have a historical meeting. North Korea leader Mr. Kim and South Korea's president Mr. Moon, will engaging in peace talks in Panmunjom. There is a real chance that a peace treaty can be established between the two countries."

Ning schooled her expression to remain neutral, but inside she was jumping in joy. The Korean War had ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty, so technically the countries had still been at war for nearly seven decades. A reunification between the two countries would change the political scenarios when it came to the peninsula and other countries.

"These talks are vital to the region. North Korea is still under sanctions for nuclear missile testing, but they _might_ agree to start denuclearization. That is a big maybe. We know South Korea will make an offer to fix the roads in North Korea, but uncertain if the offer will be accepted."

Even if those agreements weren't reached at the summit, the possibility of further talks between the two Korea, was a realistic goal. Improvement between inter relations could help improve lives. As important as it was, learning to be a Great Guardian and stopping Hawkmoth, Ning knew her duty to the world, must take precedence in this case.

"Sir, I accept this mission, but I do have a small request. Upon completion, I would like to return to Paris for three weeks. The situation here is developing into a greater conflict then before. It wouldn't feel right to leave, without helping the team here, find a way to deescalated the problem."

The French Representative agreed to her request. He instructed her to prepare for departure in one hour when his private plane arrived to take her to South Korea. It would be tricky, but the UN Security Council had a plan, of how to insert her in the talks, without raising suspicions.

After signing off, the agent now had a difficult task before her. Returning to the main room, Master Fu and Wayzz, were waiting for her. She tried to smile, but couldn't and looked down at the ground.

Wayzz antenna drooped and Master Fu played with his goatee. "You've been recalled to duty. Where are you going this time?" he asked her in a kind tone.

She explained about the peace talks and how vital they were for the region. The UN Security Council wanted her there to ensure they went smoothly and to take out any problems that would threaten the talks. Also, this was her opportunity to get new details from her Peace Team station in North Korea.

Wayzz pulled her chin up. "A Guardian cannot ignore their duty, no matter how it can be inconvenient. You're desire for peace is strong. It is what defines you as a person."

Master Fu held out her disguise and helped put it on. "No matter where you are, I know you shall come back to your home here."

"Thank Master Fu, I will return. When I do, I know in my heart will find more about the Miraculouses and Kwamii Charms." Hugging them both, Fu called her, no _him_ , a taxi and with heavy heart, Ning started her journey to Korea.

* * *

Of course, Marinette and Adrien were disappointed with Ning's absence, after all, she had been helping them practice in attempt to access new powers. Also, with only one person translating the Book, it would take even longer to learn about Hawkmoth's possible new powers.

Marinette and Adrien were drinking tea as Master Fu explained something he had found in the Book. "Before Ning left, she managed to translate one more page about the Butterfly Miraculous. She wasn't sure what it meant, but the page described motion to motionless and emotion to the emotionless."

The teens looked very confused by the statement. Even Tikki, one of the smartest Kwamiis, couldn't figure that one out. "Nooroo's powers have always had a bit of mystery to them. His powers are extremely diverse when one considers the possibilities of different champions."

Plagg snorted, causing a few pieces of cheese to land on Adrien's head. "Plagg!"

"Sorry, what a waste of cheese. I was just thinking about how Nooroo's powers are not that much of a mystery."

"They are too Plagg! No one has ever figured out if there's a limit to what our "brother's" powers are. All his champions have had a range of powers."

"Are you that oblivious Tikki? Most of his Champions have similar powers, or the same powers as a previous Champion, it's just a different person. The akumas are all different depending on what emotion they're drawn to. Its the same thing when their angels choosing champions. Back up me up on this Wayzz."

The turtle kwami groaned. He hated it when his "brothers" and "sisters" fought with one another. As the oldest, Tikki should be the one breaking up fights, not him. Everyone just turned to him because he happened to be the kwami of the Great Guardian.

"For goodness sakes, can't you two stop arguing about this? Both of you are right so shut up!"

The other two Kwamiis stared in shock. Wayzz rarely raised his voice or told someone to be quiet. He must have been more stressed out then he was letting on.

The turtle kwami floated down to the table, took a few sips of tea before munching on his baby carrots. He glared at his "siblings" daring them to continue to fight. Instead, they both floated down and settled on the table quietly eating their food.

"I apologize, Wayzz doesn't lose his temper often. I believe we should focus on understanding the translated page,"the elderly man suggested, as he opened the book. He flipped through the pages until he came to the page which had been translated.

The top part of the page was writing and the lower half was an illustration. The translation of the words were like a poem, describing the phenomenon below. There was a picture of Nooroo, his flitter flying off, and then landing on a tree and a statue, and then the tree and statue were moving.

"Motion to the motionless. Emotion to emotionless," Adrien whispered to himself. His fingers touched the aged paper, as he carefully traced the picture, his green eyes locked onto the image."Could this mean Hawkmoth could bring inanimate objects to life?" The boy drew his hand away to give Master Fu a better look at the picture.

While the Guardian looked over the picture Marinette wasn't so sure Adrien was right about what the page was trying to tell them. His theory was a possible interpretation. It fit the motion to the motionless, but it didn't cover the emotion to emotionless. Could Hawkmoth's empathy be able to put emotions in something that didn't have them?

I wish we could talk to a Butterfly wielder. They would be able to tell us more about the powers. I wonder, I have to give it a try.

Marinette slammed her palms on the table drawing their attention She then told her fellow Miraculous users her idea of how to figure out the page. She needed to visit her soul room, and invite another part of her soul, to talk with her. First though, she would need to enter a deep sleep.

* * *

While Master Fu was brewing a sleeping potion, Adrien watched his girlfriend laid out a bed roll to sleep on. "I really don't think this is a good idea," he informed Marinette.

He started to wring his hands and his eyes widen. "What if you splinter again? Worse, or never wake up? Can another part of your soul possess you?"

Marinette rolled her eyes at him. "Adrien, if your so concerned, then why don't you join me?" She giggled as Adrien balked at the idea. "I mean it. You've been distracted lately, very anxious. Talking to another side of you can only help."

The rich boy sputtered and stuttered about the reasons he shouldn't do this. Plagg laughed in his face telling the boy he was coward. Of course, Adrien snapped back he was not afraid and he would prove it.

Master Fu wasn't surprised to find out Adrien had changed his mind. Plagg knew how to manipulate his chosen to act accordingly. Which is why he had brewed two potions.

"Once you drink this, you will fall into a deep sleep. While, I have never been able to do what Marinette's Turtle side can do, I have read about how to reach your individual soul room," he told them as they prepared to enter the deep sleep. "Focus on who you are, what makes you special. Picture a room which shows all of what makes you up as a person. Follow the path provided and you'll reach your soul room."

"We'll administer the antidote in one hour. Be careful and good luck," Wayzz added. Behind him Tikki and Plagg watched quietly as their chosens drank the potion and immediately fell into a deep sleep.

 _Marinette opened her eyes and saw the red brick road laid out in front of her. Taking a deep breath and steadying herself, she walked down the path until she reached the door with a ladybug over it. Turning the knob she entered the room._

 _Her soul room was exactly as she remembered. It was her bedroom with a few reminders of what happened to her when she was akumatized. There was another door that led to her stain glass window_ _and the central soul room._

 _As she crossed the room, she could hear knocking on the door to the central soul room. She paused at the door and asked the person to identify themselves. When she heard who was there, she opened the door wide._

 _Mariposa entered the soul room and sat down on the comfy chaise. She appeared to be a little bit tired. "I was resting after another royal function and heard your heart calling out to me."_

" _Thanks for coming so quickly. I'd offer you a snack, but I didn't bring any with me," Marinette joked. Mariposa giggled and then became serious. She demanded to know why Marinette/Ladybug needed to speak with her._

 _Marinette quickly explained the situation about Hawkmoth, and how he was close, to gaining new powers. When she talked about the page, Mariposa asked her to clarify the exact translation, which Marinette did._

 _The Butterfly girl was quiet, her side ponytails started to come loose as she rested her head on her cane pommel. Nooroo had been teaching her new things recently. What Ladybug was describing sounded similar to something she learned recently from her kwami. "If you're right about the translation, then I do know what it's talking about."_

 _Marinette had to put her hand over her mouth to prevent her from shouting in delight. She hopped up and down for a few seconds before settling into her computer had an eager expression on her face, ready to know everything.  
_

" _Adrien was partially right. Some inanimate objects can be brought to life, but not in the way he thinks. The object in question has be alive in some way. A statue of an animal or person, represents a life of being, who was captured in a moment. Trees are living beings, they just can't move._

 _If something is alive, or people talk about an object, as if it has life, it can be akumatized or made a champion. The emotional energy is put inside these objects and thus they gain movement. In theory, if a machine had life and expressed emotions, then it could also be akumatized."_

 _The news was frightening to say the least. Marinette asked in there was a way to counter this power or bring it to a standstill._

 _Mariposa explained you could cleanse the object or figure a way to take away the emotions and life. "You also have to be super careful. Bringing objects to life can have dangerous consequences for the wielder. They are more likely to turn against the holder than other people."_

 _While the ladybug and butterfly were having their conversation, Adrien had finally managed to find his soul room. It was just his room, but he saw pictures of himself with his friends and school._

 _There was a plaque on the wall. He went over and ran his fingers across the metal plates. The top part of the plaque read, "The Greatest Chat Noirs" then the plates had his name followed by Marinette's or another girls name with a tiny etching of a kwami._

 _"It's a list of all the versions of you as Chat Noir," a voice called out. Adrien spun around when he saw himself in clothes fit for royalty, come out of the bathroom. "You're Chat Noir most of the time, and all versions of you as this hero have similar lives, except for a few memorable occasions. The only reason the Chat Noir in Peridot Turtle's world is the strongest version is because of his relationship with her."_

 _"Who are you? What are you doing here? Version of myself, I'm confused," Adrien sputtered out. Instinctively, he took a few steps backwards.  
_

 _The doppelganger let out a sigh and muttered something about why he had to deal with this version instead of the one he previously met. Standing up straight, the boy motioned for Adrien to take a seat on the couch, which he did._

 _"For simplicity sakes, you can call me by my hero name, Teal Peacock. I shall address you as Agreste, agreed?" Teal Peacock asked. Getting a nod, he continued to speak. "May I inquire, about the reason you called me here?"_

 _Adrien looked confused. "I didn't call you. I didn't even know how to get into my soul room! The only reason I'm here, is because Marinette wanted to talk to the part of her soul that had the Butterfly. We both drank a potion to put us in a deep sleep."_

 _Teal Peacock scratched his chin with interest. "Yes, that make sense. Even though your Ladybug is the strongest version of her, she's not a polypossunman, so she requires aid to come here on her own."_

 _Seeing that his counterpart was still confused, Teal Peacock told him not to worry about it. "Agreste, I know you have many questions, but we do have a time crunch. Can you think of a reason you would want to talk with me?"_

 _Adrien turned away, shaking slightly. He looked torn about what to say. Teal Peacock just sat there waiting patiently._

 _"I've been having dreams and hallucinations about me and Hawkmoth! In my dreams I find myself in his lair, then surrounded by butterflies and mirrors that have half of me and half of Hawkmoth. I keep seeing that in the waking world!" he blurted out. He pressed his hand to chest as the feeling of pressure relented. "Do you know what it means Teal Peacock?"_

 _The prince looked at Adrien amusingly before he started to laugh. It was a great big belly laugh and tears poured out of his eyes. The model scowled not liking being laughed at, only for the prince to tell him he was not laughing at Adrien._

 _"I apologize. I have so little fun in my life, I've forgotten how to have fun. You're problem isn't as big as you imagine it. Tell me, did Ladybug share what she had gained, when her souls merged?"_

 _Getting a nod, Teal Peacock chuckled again. "I apologize, but the answer to your dreams and hallucinations is so simple, I'm surprised you haven't figure it out."_

 _"Just tell me already!"_

 _"Agreste, you are afraid of your father being Hawkmoth in your version of life, because Ladybug told you he was in a few versions, especially in the one with me in it. My father is a powerful dangerous king who is very stern and frightening to be around."_

 _Teal Peacock reached in his pocket and pulled out a two photos before giving them to Adrien. They were before and after pictures. One was of Teal Peacock and his father standing on the grand staircase in the mansion. While the smiles in the picture seemed a little forced, they were clearly happy._

 _The other photo showed the exact same place and pose. Only the staircase was even more glamorous and now the Agreste wore clothes fit for royalty. You could practically feel the fear in Teal Peacock's eyes._

 _Adrien handed the photos back. "I'm sorry your father turned out to be evil."_

 _"Thank you. I had dreams similar to you when this first happened. We're both conflicted. Our father is someone we love and respect. We should feel safe and protected. When we see his dark side, we fear it's only a matter of time before we turn into him."_

 _Adrien sagged understanding what Teal Peacock meant. If there was even a possibility his father was evil, he didn't think he could handle it. If his father could be evil, then there was a strong possibility he was._

 _"We don't have to walk the path of our father. I have chosen to fight and overthrow my father one day, and restore Paris to its normal glory. You can find out the truth for yourself and make peace with it, if you're willing to. Question is, are you strong enough to do so?"_

 _"I believe I am."_

* * *

After an eleven hour flight from Paris to Seoul and couple hours of sleep, Peace Keeper was in the back of transport vehicle, reading the background for her new alias, Jeong Si-U and she was meant to play a part as fill in for one of the camera men, invited to broadcast the peace talks. Her male alias was skilled in camera work and keeping the shot in perfect focus. There was a list of credentials, money, and a security badge to give her access to the peace talks.

A picture of what she was supposed to look like had been added in the profile. She had secured her hair under a male hair style wig and changed her face and eye shape. Her skin was the right tone and she had already bound her breast and added her fake Adam's apple. Underneath her outfit, she wore a device that made her shoulders much broader.

"Hello, it is nice to meet you. It is a pleasure to be here," Si-U practiced, holding "his" right forearm with "his" left hand. It was tradition after the bow of respect to shake a man's hand.

While Si-U's handshake was right, the accented needed some work. Not only did it have to sound Korean, it had to have the inflections of someone who lived in a major city.

"His body" language would have to be very specific. No touching of any kind, avoid eye contact with a superior, and gesture for help by extending her right arm, palm facing down, and use a scratching motion to attract someone's attention.

Eventually, Jeong Si-U made it to Panmunjom and exited the vehicle. There were two people waiting for him. One was the head of security, the other was the head of TV crew.

He bowed to them and then did the handshake. "Hello Chief Moon, Producer Jin. It is an honor to be allowed to assist in this historical meeting."

"Indeed. Please stow your things and get to work," Producer Jin commanded.

Chief Moon escorted the cameraman to the bunks and then to the TV crew. This was going to be a tricky mission. There was no way to get away for a few minutes to check on the latest news from France. Squaring his shoulder's Jeong Si-U went to work.

* * *

In Paris, Marinette was soaking her feet after a hard day fighting a difficult Akuma. Mariposa's warning came to pass. Max's robot friend Markov had been akumatized as Robotus. The robot had taken control of all the technology in the city and it had been very difficult to fight against him.

The only reason they had won that fight had been because Robotus had turned against Hawkmoth, while Max had been able to distract his friend long enough to allow, Ladybug and Chat Noir, a chance to destroy his akumatized object.

"Mariposa was right. Hawkmoth didn't know how to control his power over inanimate objects."

Tikki swallowed her cookie and tilted her head. "That is true, but he might decide to do this again. Hawkmoth is very determined to get what he wants and doesn't give up. I hope the Great Guardian can figure out the rest of the Miraculous Book sooner than later."


	6. Field Work

**The Peace Talks mentioned in this chapter took place on April 27th 2018. The information mentioned in the chapter was verified by numerous news outlets.**

* * *

The peace talks between the two Koreas were about to begin, as Keung Si-U, set up the camera equipment. It would not be long before President Moon Jae-in and Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un met at the border, where the North Korean leader would step over the line and enter South Korea.

Filming this broadcast was a thrilling sensation. Every pomp and honorable action, would be watched closely, to ensure the success of the talks. The secret UN agent would be keeping a critical eyes and ears on the two leaders, ready to step in if something went wrong. Hopefully, without getting killed in the process.

Finally, it was time for the summit to begin. Keung Si-U focused the camera in closely, as the two men shared a handshake and Supreme Leader Kim, stepped over the concrete line as a welcomed guest. President Moon also crossed the line into North Korea, to demonstrate the friendship between the two, before heading to the Peace Hall in the South Korea part of the village.

The camera held steady as the two men walked down a large red carpet with the pomp and pageantry of a South Korean honor guard, but the soldiers wore 19th-century imperial costumes, recalling a time before the peninsula was divided by ideology and war. Supreme Leader Kim appeared to be impressed and commented something positive to President Moon.

The camera crew continued to film the Supreme Leader Kim and President Moon, as they talked with one another, and rode in a bodyguard escorted limo from North Korea, to lunch. As the day progressed, the delegations got smaller and smaller, so when the talks started, the delegation was made of six individuals, three from South Korea and three from North Korea, including Supreme Leader Kim's sister.

It was highly unusual for such intimate discussions to be aired on TV, instead of being closed off to the public, but Supreme Leader Kim wanted to show his dedication to unifying Korea under one flag, just as the two countries had been at the Winter Olympics. President Moon also thought this live broadcast to the world would show how serious the countries were about peace.

Keung Si-U watched the events through "his" camera noting in "his" mind signs that indicated a reunification might be possible. The outfits the two leaders were in spoke volumes. For Mr. Moon, a dark business suit was paired with a light blue tie that echoed the hue used in the Korean Unification Flag.

Mr. Kim wore an austere black Mao-style suit, a message to his citizens that despite being in enemy territory he was still committed to the ideals — and dress — of his grandfather, Kim Il-sung, North Korea's founder, who ordered the 1950 invasion of the South that started the Korean War.

The furniture in the room also echoed the reason for these peace talks. The table and chairs inside the meeting room were designed with a pattern evoking two bridges coming together, foreshadowing the bridge on which the two men would got to later for a private chat.

The entire camera crew held their breaths as the two men exchanged jokes, something among a rarity between the two opposing leaders. Even when complimenting each other, the media couldn't believe the ease between them. The normal tensions between leaders, was not completely gone, it was just less noticeable than before.

For Keung Su-U, it was refreshing to see Supreme Leader Kim, talking openly and honestly, even admitting his countrymen had talked about the efficiency of South Korea's train system during the Olympics. He declared, "I came here to put an end to the history of confrontation." President Moon appeared hopeful they could accomplish this.

Unfortunately, as the French Representative predicted, the two parties couldn't come to an agreement about denuclearization or withdrawing troops from the DMZ. North Korea wanted to continue developing nuclear weapons. Mr. Moon stated his offer to help fix the roadways and train tracks wouldn't happen until this matter was resolved.

It did seem the two countries could agree on improving the relationship between the North and South. Mr. Kim and Mr. Moon also agreed to improve inter-Korean relations by opening a liaison office in the North Korean border town of Kaesong and arranging a reunion later in the year for families separated by the war.

That was really encouraging to hear, knowing how important family is to the Korean culture. The two Korean leaders also agreed to further talks and President Moon was invited to visit the North Korea capital Pyongyang in the fall.

Later in the afternoon, Keung Si-U relaxed a little as "he" watched the two leaders, crossed a blue bridge and have a private talk, outside of hearing range. Their body language didn't appear hostile at all.

One of the last ceremonies before the meeting end included planting a tree with soil from both sides of Korea. It symbolized the two countries becoming one and growing stronger together. The day ended with a farewell ceremony outdoors set to a mix of modern K-pop and traditional Korean folk music. Both Mr. Moon and Mr. Kim, held hands as they stood looking on.

As the North Korean delegation left, the last minute cameraman let out a sigh of relief. Everything had gone smoothly. It was sad that a treaty hadn't been made up today, but hopefully future talks would lead to one.

* * *

It was very late and the camera crew wouldn't be returning to Seoul until tomorrow, so the cameraman head to the bunkers to sleep for the night. "He" had just reached the building, when the palm of "his" hand started burn intensely.

Looking at "his" left palm, the Order of the Guardians' mark had reappeared. The burning sensation intensified as the mark started to glow black, white, and blue. An image of the origami magpie flashed in front of the person's eyes. The animal was saying something, but couldn't be heard.

Stumbling backwards, the cameraman noticed the glow increased when "his" hand pointed to the border. There must be something important that way "he" thought as he walked towards the border. The cameraman walked towards the border keeping to the shadows. The military personal were still on active duty. Their patrols around the blue bunkers had intensified after the talks. They were being diligent in case either side thought about a surprise attack.

As the undercover agent moved towards the concrete boarder line, "he" was surprised that there was no one near the border. That didn't make any sense, considering there was at least three guards on each side at all times. Something must be going on. Either this was a massive coincidence, or something miraculous, was taking place.

From the JSA building, where the 1953 Armistice Agreement had been signed, a shadow appeared. A figure was carefully looking around, checking everywhere for the military. Hurriedly, the person ran to the border. As they got closer, the agent realized the person was carrying a battered old box.

Keung Si-U hurried to the border. A thin strip of moonlight revealed the figure holding the box, was one of the members of her Peace Keeping team in North Korea. A young woman named, Gim Bora, who was a minor secretary for the North Korean military in the DMZ.

The woman's eyes darted around and her skin was paling. She was taking a huge risk by being there, especially since she could be raped, beaten, and thrown in a prison camp, if anyone found out about this. Her body language indicated high levels of anxiety, especially when she saw the undercover agent making "his" way towards her.

Keung Si-U stepped to the edge of the border and repeated a coded poem, to confirm, "he" was a contact of the Peace Keeping teams in the south part of the peninsula.

Gim Bora looked relieved. "I'm glad you're here. I haven't much time, but I believe this item here would be safer with our superior than it is in military lock down," she explained as she passed the box across the border.

Keung Si-U opened the box slightly and saw that it contained an _ayam_ , a special winter cap, worn by woman during the Joseon period. The _ayam_ consisted of the upper part known as a _mobu_ , (a crown), and _deurim_ shaped like big ribbon. The upper part of the _mobu_ was quilted, the vertical line of the front shorter than the back's. On the bottom edge, the front part was curved in, unlike the back.

In addition, the vertical lines of the front and back are a little curvy, so that, when wearing an _ayam_ , it fits well to one's head. Faded blue silk had been used upper quilted part of the outer fabric, while scraps of black fur was used for the rest of the _mobu_. The fabric for the inner part was white and dirty.

The tassel, attached to the upper center of both front and back, was blue and the white and black strings connected on both sides and laid flat. There was a jewel piece under the tassle, made of sardonyx gems, but some of them were missing. The shape resembled some kind of bird.

The burning sensation was nearing to a point where the pain couldn't be ignored. The glowing would soon become noticeable to others. "Where did you get this and why is it so significant?"

"This was found recently in the DMZ ground when they were making repairs to the electric fence. North Korea took possession of it and thought it might have historical significance. I was asked to catalog it and make sure it was ready for shipping."

"But you didn't. Why?"

Gim Bora expounded that when she touched the item to put it in the box, she had a vision. She saw a magpie, the image of a painting of two people dressed like one, then a picture of her secret superior. "It was so vivid and profound, I knew there was something mystical about the item. It was meant for my superior to have. I replaced this _ayam_ with a fake. Can you get it to her?"

Keung Si-U assured Gim Bora this would get to their superior speedily. Relieved, the North Korean woman, thanked the "man" before hurrying back to the JSA building. The cameraman hurried back to the bunker and hid the box in the camera bag.

The item would have to be more closely looked at when "he" reached Seoul. One thing was certain, that the burning and glowing had stopped once the item was in "his" possession. The _ayam_ was related to the Miraculouses, somehow.

* * *

While that was going on Korea, thanks to the time difference, it was still the day before in Paris. Adrien had to skip the final rehearsal before the ball, to do a photo shoot. He was a bit upset, because his father had allowed him to attend the school in place of his Chinese lessons for a time, so he could be "properly" introduced into society.

"Yes, yes, you look magnificent today Adrien. Now give me another huge smile!" Vincent, the photographer, instructed the young model. Vincent was one of the best in the business, his flexible body enabling him to get a ton more angle shots than most other photographers. Vincent's motivational speeches, were unusual to say the least. He was always talking about spaghetti or setting up strange stories, to get a range of reactions. Today, he was trying to motivate Adrien, by making him hold a lollipop.

"Come on, give me that sweet smile. You are young and adorable! The lollipop is a yummy treat for a teen boy to eat!" The shutter clicked quickly as the photographer managed to shoot from high above, to the side, then upside down. "Yes, yes! You are perfect Adrien!"

Passing by the photo shoot was a young woman with blond hair with her biracial baby boy August. The child saw the lollipop and immediately started shouting, "lolli lollipop! Lollipop!"

The mother bent down, "No August, no lollipop. You're too little." August started crying and throwing a temper tantrum.

"Lollipop, lolli lollipop! Wha!" Tears started rolling down his face. His mother calmly told him to stop crying and pushed the stroller away.

The photo shoot was nearly done, when the screaming started. Vincent and Adrien turned and saw the little baby was now a Gigiantean. He was wearing a purple onesie with a lime green bib with a pacifier on and a mask of the same color. On his right wrist, was a huge bracelet, the most likely location of the baby's akuma.

The Gorilla was running to protect the boy when he was picked up, sucked on by Gigiantitan, before being thrown a half a mile away, for tasting disgusting. "Lollipop! Lollipop!"

Adrien jumped into some bushes as Plagg flew out of the boy's jacket. "Hawkmoth must have lost his mind or he watched, "Honey, I Blew Up the Kid," too many times as a child."

"Then, we'll just have to hope, we can shrink him down to size, without using electromagnetism. Claws Out!" Chat Noir jumped out of the bush and ran towards the giant baby. Without looking at the time, he knew he would be on his own for up to twenty to thirty minutes because of the ball rehearsal. Marinette would have to come up with a great excuse to leave.

"Hi there baby! Want to play tag?"

Gigiantitan, who had been trying to eat the statues that lined the Gardens of the Trocadero, looked for the source of the voice. A huge smile lit up on his face. "Kitty!" Gigiantitan walked wobbly towards the superhero.

Chat Noir dodged the kid's giant feet, diving between the kid's legs. "Over here kid! Come and get me!" he laughed as he extended his weapon, lifting him up in the air and onto the roof.

Gigiantitan shouted, "Bad kitty!" no doubt repeating what Hawkmoth told him. The boy turned and tried to grab Chat Noir, who kept stepping out of reach. Frustrated that he couldn't get the kitty, he stomped his feet. "I wanna kitty! I wanna kitty!"

The stomping sent quakes through the ground and caused the superhero to lose his balance and nearly roll off the rooftop. "I guess this is what they mean when the terrible two tones!"

Suddenly, he was grabbed by the akumatized baby. The baby's grip was tight and he couldn't break free. He was heading for the baby's mouth. "I'm not an animal cracker! Ah!"

Something sparkly shot into the air and whirled around, catching Gigiantitan's attention. "Pwetty!" He dropped the superhero and reached for the shiny object only for said object to tie his hands together.

"Naughty little boy! We don't try to eat people," Ladybug scolded, as she landed on the boy's wrists. "Now, just hold still and I'll turn you back to normal." She was reaching for the bracelet when the baby screamed, "Lollipop! Lollipop!"

He pulled his hands apart until the yo-yo string unwound sending Ladybug flying through the air and into the Seine. "Lollipop, lolli!" The boy plopped on his butt and started throwing another fit. "Wanna lollipop, lollipop!" His pounding fists sent cars up and down in the air.

One of those cars happened to be the sweet truck. Smelling the candy the boy let out a joyful shout. He picked up the truck, clapping his giant hands, and tried to get the lollipops. Only his fingers were too big and crushed all the candy.

"Lollipop? No lollie? Whaaaaaaa Whaaaaaaaaaaa! Wanna lollipop. Lollie, lollie!"

Chat Noir, was jumping all around diving in and out of cars, trying not to be crushed. Hawkmoth no doubt was struggling to get the baby to attack him and Ladybug, spotting the mask flashing repeatedly on the giant's face. The super villain had to be having a worse temper tantrum then his victim.

The sound of, dripping water and the smell of bad fish, told Chat Noir his partner had finally managed to get out of the river. He turned his head and grinned at his sopping wet girlfriend. "How are the fishing biting My Lady?"

Ladybug glared at her partner as if she wanted to kill him. "Don't ask that again!" she hissed at him. Gulping the cat boy nodded and asked if she had a plan.

"I had a complicated one in my head as I raced here, but now I'm ready for the simple approach. Lucky Charm!" Red and black spotted gift wrap fell into her hands. "Of course, it had be another unusual item." She peered around and saw what she was supposed to do. "The kid wants a lollipop? Then we'll give him one."

In Hawkmoth's lair he was screaming at the baby to get up. "I'll buy you a million lollipops if you get up and find the bad kitty and ladybug for me! Come on Gigiantitan, don't you want your sweet treat? Why is it so hard to control a baby? Adrien certainly wasn't this much trouble when he was little," Hawkmoth seethed to himself. Just then he felt a huge wave of happiness come over him.

"Happiness? Why would there be happiness? No!" Hawkmoth tried to take control, but it was useless. Ladybug had hidden in the gift wrap the heroes had folded around the lamppost, making it look like a lollipop. All it took was a quick click, disintegration, and one cleanse later, everything was back to normal.

"You think that was a tantrum Ladybug and Chat Noir? Wait until you feel my wraith on you!"

* * *

Finally, it was the night of the ball. Ms. Bustier's students, who initially signed up to prove something to Chloe, were actually very excited for the night. The Parisian School for Charming Young Ladies and Gentlemen, had turned out to be a wonderful experience. True to their word, the lessons they had taken had helped the students strive towards goals they thought before were impossible.

Outside the school, the media was interviewing the donors invited to the event, many who were the heads of local government departments and companies. Nadja Chamack, was currently interviewing, Captain Tremaine, the same man who had worked with Peace Keeper, during her first visit to Paris.

"Captain Tremaine, the viewers want to know, why the National Police are here tonight to donate funds. Many believe that charm schools are a thing of the past. Care to comment?" the reporter asked as she held the microphone out. She remembered this time to give someone their personal space.

Captain Tremaine cleared his throat. "While many believe charm schools are a thing of the past, I, myself, feel they serve a purpose for teaching young people how to lead a productive life. They also serve as a place young people can go instead of being on the streets.

While the crime rate in Paris is moderate, it has increased over the last three years. Theft and vandalism crimes are on the rise and so is sexual harassment in the work force. If we can teach the next generation to not be violent, I believe the crime rate will go down."

"Thank you for your honesty Captain Tremaine. I hope you have a good time tonight and your donation is generous." Captain Tremaine nodded and headed down to the entrance of the building.

Inside the building, several students and their families mingled with the guest donors. The adults drank absinthe and the kids' cider or grape juice. Servers walked around with samples of mini tarte flambés and free form onion tarts to tide them over until dinner.

At the entrance, the bailiwick announced in a clear voice each arrival. Chloe and her father had already entered the building. Her father was busy meeting people and talking to them about business, under the watchful eye of the true mayor of Paris, Ms. Anne Hidalgo.

Chloe, was showing off her dress and bragging how it was a one of kind piece, her father had commissioned for her. The dress she had her eyes on, turned out to clash with her skin. It was also not as expensive as it looked. Her new gown had been super expensive and looked fantastic on her.

It was a chartreuse ball gown with a sweet heart neckline with angel sleeves, along with a narrow bodice to show off her figure. The skirt was full with a transparent black overskirt. She wore elbow length white gloves along with a gold necklace and coronet, with tiny gold studs. Her makeup was tastefully done. She did look pretty, but her attitude was still sour.

"The dress is made from the softest silk and of course the whole gown was hand-stitched. Only the finest for the Princess of Paris!" Chloe bragged. She looked at the gowns some of her classmates wore and laughed. "You're ball gowns are so generic. Plus, who wears a printed ball gown? You're sticking out like a sore thumb. That peach really looks ugly on your skin. That suit doesn't hide anything does it?"

The two girls, daughters of two old French families, burst into tears. They ran towards the bathrooms with their dates, who were very angry, trying to catch up with them. Many people saw the commotion and wondered what happened.

When will people stop getting upset when presented with the truth? Chloe mused to herself. If you want to stay on top in high society, it's important to show others who was the best of the best. Every member of society knows that.

"Announcing the arrival of Monsieur Adrien Agreste and Mademoiselle Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Accompanied by Mr. and Mrs. Dupain Cheng, Madam Sancoeur and Mr. Gorilla."

Adrien walked in wearing a navy blue suit with white buttons, linings, and tie. His jacket was doubled breasted and the cuffs and his pants had been tailored perfectly.

Next to him, Marinette looked beautiful. She had nude makeup on and had her hair up in a bun. Her dress was a dark red with an empire styled waist and skirt. The neckline was jeweled with black trim with capped sleeves. She had on a simple ruby pendent.

The young couple were laughing about a private joke. Behind them, Marinette's parents smiled lovingly at their daughter. Nathalie wore a simple black dress and the Gorilla, had exchanged his bodyguard suit for a tuxedo. Both of them kept their eyes sharply on the young couple, per Mr. Agreste's orders.

Adrien was upset that his father chose to have a teleconference with one of his suppliers in Japan tonight. He had really hoped his father would come with him. His only word on the subject was he already knew how perfect his son was.

Seeing her boyfriend's downcast expression, Marinette used her finger to lift his chin up. "I know you're sad you father didn't come, but it must be very painful for him to attend events meant parents and children, without your mother."

"My mom was always the center of attention at parties like this. Come on, let's mingle."

The couple went over and started talking with their friends. Everyone from their group looked fantastic and seemed to be enjoying themselves. Thanks to Adrien, all the boys had chosen the perfect suit that fit their personality and the event. None of them were uncomfortable and they could move with ease.

Nino had on a beret because he felt naked without a hat. It had taken a lot of combing for Kim's hair to lie flat instead of stick out all over the place. Ivan had sprayed on some cologne Adrien had given to him.

The girls' dresses were very pretty. Alya had found a bronze colored dress with a light black overlay over the skirt. The neckline was bateau with puffed sleeves. She had straightened her hair out for the event and for once didn't have her phone with her.

Alix had been able to find a dress that matched her hair perfectly with bell sleeves and a Bardot neckline. The skirt was tiered with white lace that matched her dance shoes.

Mylene's dress was leaf green with a shorter skirt due to her smaller stature and made her appear slimmer. The neckline was a simple scoop with petal sleeves. She also wore a decorative flower pin.

They talked for a few minutes about their dresses and about the boys' suits before whispering about what they wanted to happen during the dancing. Batting their eyelashes at their partners, the girls allowed themselves to be escorted away to talk with the different donors, in hopes they could persuade them for very generous donations.

Adrien was about to lead Marinette away when he heard a frustrated humph. It reminded him of all the times he suppressed his annoyance and sadness about a situation. He walked towards the sound, politely excusing himself through the throng of servers until he reached the wall. "Judekael?" Adrien said. The boy looked up from where he was leaning against the wall. He looked good in his black suit and white tie. Seeing Adrien, he straightened up, showing he took the school's teachings seriously.

"Greetings Mr. Agreste. I hope you are having a fine evening."

"I will once you start using my name. What are you doing over here by yourself? The headmistress distinctly told us to stay with our partners. Where's Chloe?"

The scholarship student rolled his brown eyes and let out a sigh of frustration. "I have no idea Adrien. We didn't arrive together since she came here with her father. I waited for her by the entrance, but she wasn't there, so I came inside. I've been searching for her everywhere, but all I've run into are her victims."

"Victims?"

"Why are you confused? Surely as her oldest friend, you have realized she has sharp tongue and doesn't show respect, or show kindness, to anyone she deems irrelevant?"

Adrien squirmed a little, unsure what to say to that. "Um, why don't I help you find her so you can enter the dining hall together? I just need to fetch Marinette first." Reluctantly the other boy followed him.

Eventually, they found Chloe, who was talking to Sabrina about something. Sabrina's partner, a boy from another school, stood nearby tapping his foot anxiously.

"Really Sabrina, you should have put in contacts instead of wearing those glasses to the ball. You are making me appear worse because of them."

"Sorry Chloe, but I don't own contacts."

"Then get some. Oh Adrikins! It's so wonderful to see you!" Chloe latched onto Adrien's arm and hugged him tightly. "You look so handsome. We'll look so great when we're dancing later."

"Maybe Chloe. I found your partner for the night," Adrien expressed her, as he waved Judekael over. He didn't notice Chloe frowning. "I know you haven't intentionally been avoiding him. I know it's crowded so you had to have a hard time finding him. Hope you two have fun tonight. Marinette and I are going to talk to the different hospital boards about donations."

* * *

The rest of the cocktail hour went smoothly. Many of the guests were delighted in how well-mannered the students were. The different partners described why they had joined the school for the ball or praised the teachers for being so patient with them. Some of the kids were actually considering enrolling for next year.

A dinner bell ran alerting everyone it was time for dinner. The school was very lucky to have such a huge dining hall to fit all the guests. First, the donor guests were escorted to the main table up front. Then the parents or guardians were guided to their tables closest to the main table.

Marinette's parents and Adrien's guardians were seated at a table together with a few other parents of the kids in their group. Everyone stood at attention as the students glided into the room with grace and poise.

Last to enter the room, in proper decorum, was Madam Isaura and Monsieur Jerome, both smiling and shaking hands with their guests. They floated into the host seats. Monsieur Jerome picked up his wine glass and gently tapped it with his fork.

"Welcome everyone. My sister and I, along with our wonderful staff, are very pleased you have come here tonight for our humble ball. I hope you're all having a good time tonight. This school has been in our family for generations and I hope it will continue for many more to come."

Madame Isaura raised her own glass to offer a toast. "Tonight, our hope is you will be generous with your charity. The true charity though, is helping prepare young ladies and gentlemen, for their future. We love all of them very much and thank them for letting us teach them."

"Now let us enjoy this wonderful meal. Bon appetit!"

In France, throughout the dinner, bread and butter would be on the table. It was a sign of hospitality. Being a formal meal, the water glasses were filled with bottled water. The bread was freshly baked and tasted wonderful. The butter enhanced the taste of it.

Marinette was telling Adrien the bread was almost as good as the one her father baked, when the first course arrived. It was smoked tuna with parsley and tomatoes, with a dusting of bread crumbs. They were also served cranberry juice.

The meal was eaten using a fish knife and fork. Etiquette for a fish meal was to gently hold the fish down and slice from head to tail with the knife before laying the fish out flat. Cut it into small neat pieces before daintily putting it in your mouth. To add more flavor you speared a piece of garnish with the fork along with the fish.

The main course was a huge roast beast with two different sauces, served with squash and broccoli. During the course people added some salt or pepper to bring out the taste of the food. Their glasses were refilled during this part of the meal as well. It was important to cleanse your pallet after every part of the meal, to have the full tasty food experience.

The salad course was a mix of different greens, such as lettuce and cabbage. The dressing was Green Goddess. The light food was served to help give them an easier time digesting their dinner. Mylene loved the salad dish and Ivan was quick to agree with her.

During the cheese course, which was Brie, the conversation turned light and happy. They were discussing upcoming events at their school or asked Judekael what activities he was involved at his school. Everyone contributed something to the conversation.

The desert course was sherbet. Alya and Nino debated the difference between sorbet and sherbet. Chloe, who declared the desert would make her gain weight, shoved it to Marinette, telling her that a few more pounds wouldn't make much of a difference on her oversized body.

"Chloe! Dinner etiquette clearly says you have to eat everything placed in front of you, which includes desert," Marinette firmly reminded her. She passed the desert back to the girl.

"Please, I'm not eating anything that can ruin my figure." Chloe reached out to push it back to Marinette, forgetting to move slowly and slightly angle her elbow, causing the desert to wobble on the table before splattering on her partner's suit. "Oops, my bad."

Judekael looked at the damage with a horrific expression on his face. "My suit! My mom worked overtime to help me pay for this!" The teenager tried to clean himself off quickly to avoid getting the suit badly stained. He got some of it off, but it was quickly melting. His new white tie was ruined.

"You should go and see if the staff can fix it before the staining becomes permanent," Marinette told him. She offered to go with him, but the boy declined, not wanting any help. He'd been humiliated enough for the night.

Everyone watched him storm out of the dining hall, trying not to cry. The other kids glared at Chloe. "Not cool Chloe. It took almost an hour and half to find Judekael a suit that could fit him and was affordable," Kim hissed.

"If it's ruined for good, he can't afford another one for future events," Nino pointed out harshly.

"How could you forget how to pass and move things around the table? We practiced this last week, as well as, yesterday afternoon," Ivan asked in bewilderment.

Chloe raised her eyebrow slightly and looked offended. "Why are you getting mad at me? It's Marinette's fault. I told her to eat it. If she did what she was told this wouldn't have happened."

"The desert was for you! We're supposed to be showing what we've learned to our parents and teachers. To thank them for all they've done," Alya stated as calmly as she could. Mylene and Alix chimed in pointing out since she'd been attending this school the longest, Chloe's manners should be impeccable.

Chloe scoffed at them. "My manners and behavior is perfect for someone of my status. The school should have assigned me someone worth of my status, instead of a low class child."

* * *

In the bathroom, Judekael splashed water on his face and tried to wipe his tears away. The teachers responsible for helping out with damaged clothing had to take the suit right away to hopefully get it cleaned. They had given him a plainer suit that was his size to put on. It was nice suit, but it wasn't _his_ specially tailored suit.

How can this be happening? I worked so hard to be able to come to this school, to improve my chances in life. The scholarship was a gift from heaven. This ball was to show everyone, I Judekael Chevalier, was important!

"I put up with Chloe Bourgeois superiority complex. I never ever responded to her cruel words and I was nice to her. I tried my hardest to be a good partner and she doesn't care! She blew me off and ruined my suit, just to get a chance with a guy, who has a girlfriend!"

Judekael slammed his right hand into the mirror breaking it. His blood started to fall on the damaged tie in his hand. He was seething and wanted to put Chloe in her place. He never even noticed the akuma fly through the open window and into his tie.

 _"Mr. Etiquette, I am Hawkmoth. I sense your anger at being humiliated by someone who doesn't deserve her status in life. I can give you the power to put the charlatan in her true place._

 _All I need is for you to get me Ladybug and Chat Noir's Miraculous. Do we have a deal?"_

"It would be my honor to serve you." The purple and black smoke covered him as he was akumatized. When the smoke cleared her was wearing a burgundy tuxedo with olive green gloves. A butterfly tattoo mask covered his now red eyes. Wrapped around his right arm was the tie, now much longer and crimson red.

* * *

Everyone had moved into the ballroom for the dancing portion of the night. The kids all lined up with their partners and got ready to open the ball with a waltz. Madam Isaura and Monsieur Jerome were about to instruct the orchestra to begin when they noticed Chloe's partner was missing. They signaled one of the teacher's to quickly solve the problem.

The daughter of the mayor was poised and ready to cut in with the boy of her dreams when she was tapped on the shoulder by Madame Eugenia and asked to come with her. Reluctantly, the pampered princess followed her.

Once they were in a secluded corner Madame Eugena cut loose. "Ms. Bourgeois, where is your partner?! We can't start the dance without all the students here."

"He's probably sulking somewhere about his silly suit getting covered with sherbet. Honestly, how is it my fault he didn't move when my desert spilled? It was Marinette's fault for refusing to eat it for me."

Before the teacher could give the girl a piece of her mind, the doors burst open and in strolled Mr. Etiquette. "A round of applause please. The guest of honor of this ball has arrived."

Snapping his wrist, the tie shot out and struck part of the crowd. The people touched suddenly found themselves clapping. "Very nice indeed. Oh, no, we don't run in the ballroom, we glide."

Several adults, including Captain Tremaine, had started to run to tackle him, but a flick of the tie and now they were literally gliding across the floor. He flicked his weapon out several times as he made his way towards Chloe. Any guest touched by the tie, were forced to follow the exact manners he gave them. At this point, the students were scattering and their families trying to get to them. Many brave people tried to get to the Akuma, only to fail in the attempt.

"Adrien, where are you? Adrien!" Nathalie called out trying to find her charge. The Gorilla was scanning the room looking for his charge when he saw the Akuma about to attack Nathalie. He rushed to save her from being touched.

"How romantic, a gentlemen coming to the aid of a beautiful woman. I suggest you two sit down so your chaperones can keep an eye on you!" His tie made a wide arch encompassing not only Nathalie and the Gorilla, but also the Dupain-Chengs, forcing them back into the dining hall.

After a few more steps he reached his prey. Chloe was scared and cowering a bit. "Whoever you are, please don't hurt me. My dad's the mayor, he can pay for anything you want!"

Mr. Etiquette spat on her face. "Typical spoiled brat! You think money can fix humiliation and a lack of respect? You think because your father is a political figure you don't have to follow the rules of conduct?" He slapped Chloe across the face and pushed her to the ground, her ball gown ripping. "You don't deserve your status. You are going to learn a lesson in how to treat people nicely by your own partner!"

Before he could use his tie, he heard the jingling of a bell and then he was knocked off his feet. While he was on his back, a female figure swung from the chandler and to the ground, picking up Chloe.

"Ladybug! I knew you come save me!" Ladybug stumbled a bit because of the impromptu hug. "You have to protect me from him!"

"Ladybug, give me your earrings now!" Mr. Etiquette demanded as he got to his feet. His weapon flicked out to grab the heroine only for him to be pulled back thanks to Chat Noir using his belt tail to create a catch pole.

"Get Chloe out of here, My Lady. I'll keep him under control for now!"

Ladybug raced out of the room and ducked into a nearby classroom. She quickly deposited Chloe in a seat. "Stay here and don't make any noise." Without waiting for a reply she exited the room and headed back to help her partner.

Upon entering the ballroom, she ducked as Chat Noir flew over her head, pushed off the wall, before landing on his feet next to her. She gave him a smile, "Didn't anyone tell you it's rude to put your feet on the wall?"

"I think this is an exception My Lady." The partners jumped apart as Mr. Etiquette flicked his tie at them, while ordering them to pass to him their Miraculous.

"It's improper for you to come to a party and not give the host a gift," the akumatized teen sang. He danced around, avoiding Ladybug's yo-yo. "No playing with toys when guests are around."

His tie wrapped around the yo-yo, and it wound itself back up. Ladybug tried to use it, but it refused to comply with her. Chat Noir scrambled to retrieve his baton only for it to be confiscated because it might, "poke someone's eye out."

 _"Without their weapons they can't stop you Mr. Etiquette. Retrieve their Miraculous!"_

"With pleasure Hawkmoth. I would like to have my gifts delivered to me now."

The heroes dodged the attack and flipped around the ballroom. The Akuma followed them, calling out more rules as he narrowly missed grabbing their feet. They needed a plan and fast.

Dropping down onto the floor, Ladybug hurled her yo-yo into air. "Lucky Charm!" What landed in her hands was a back scratcher. "I hope I'm not supposed to scratch his back." Her eyes darted around and highlighted the back scratcher, the tie, Chat Noir, and lastly, the dance floor. "Of course! Chat Noir, I'm ready to follow your lead."

The cat hero was surprised when his lady got into position to waltz, but he took her hand, and they started to dance elegantly across the dance floor. As they danced closer and closer to Mr. Etiquette, his grip tightening on his girlfriend, who whispered something into his ear.

The Akuma got ready to use his tie to compel the heroes to give him their Miraculouses. Timing it right, he flicked it out only for it to be caught and pulled off him by the back scratcher.

It was flung into the air and Chat Noir's Cataclysm destroyed it. Upon the tie's destruction, Ladybug's yo-yo started to work again. One quick deevilizing and Miraculous Ladybug, and everything was back to normal.

"Pound it!"

Judekael gasped when he saw the heroes and realized he must have been akumatized. "Mademoiselle Ladybug, Monsieur Chat Noir. I apologize for my behavior. It was uncalled for."

"It's okay. We understand how important tonight must be for you. I hope you enjoy the rest of the ball," Ladybug told him kindly. The two heroes split before their timers ran out.

Once everyone was accounted for and making sure no one was hurt, the evening continued as planned. Madame Eugena stepped in to be Judekael's partner, as the hosts kindly asked Mayor Bourgeois, to take Chloe home. When he asked why, the two siblings informed him of his daughter's refusal to follow the rules.

The night was smashing success for The Parisian School for Charming Young Ladies and Gentlemen. So many donors had been impressed by the students and with Ladybug and Chat Noir's heroics, the final total 846,943.41 euros, a million dollars in the USA! It was truly a wonderful night.

* * *

In Seoul, Ning was preparing for her return to Paris. Her flight had been delayed a few days due to unexpected weather conditions. During the wait, she had studied the _ayam._

Without any tools to carbon date the item, she has used a variety of history books and estimated the cap was from the middle to later part of the Joseon Period, roughly around the 1680's to the 1890'. The details also indicated it was probably worn by a high ranking _kisaeng,_ (a female entertainer), perhaps employed by nobility.

The craftsmanship was superb. Someone had taken a great deal of time to make the _ayam_ super strong and able to endure the test of time. Even after being buried in the ground for centuries had done little damage to it.

The sardonyx gems, had to come from China. The cut and polish of the gems was high end. Even with a few gems missing, the design was clearly to mimic a magpie. Judging by the placement and stitching, the gem magpie appeared to have been added much later than the creation of the _ayam._

Master Fu never said if the Miraculous could be changed throughout history, but it might be possible. To hide in such plain sight, would require being able to match the region and current fashions of the time.

Placing her left hand on the jewel, the mark reappeared on her palm. There was a brief moment of intense pain. The image of a small kwami with a straight black feathery tail, blue wing like hands with a white body flashed in front of her. The word honor whispered in her mind.

Withdrawing her hand, Ning was certain that the _ayam_ was a lost Miraculous. The missing gems seemed to be affecting whatever kwami was inside, perhaps making it sick.

"I have to get this back to Master Fu. Hopefully, the Miraculous Book, will have some information about how to help the kwami trapped inside and what powers it gives a person."


	7. Study Group

The eleven hour flight back to Paris wore Ning out, because of the time difference and date change. When she had arrived back at Master Fu's, she was so tired, he immediately sent her to bed, and let her sleep for a good day and a half.

While Ning was recovering from her severe jet lag, he examined the _ayam_ she had brought back with her. The Great Guardian also marveled at the craftsmanship of the headgear. It was clearly designed to last through the ages. He could sense the magic that went into creating this hat. He traced his finger over the damaged jewel piece. The stones would need to be polished and the missing ones replaced, if that was even possible. Wayzz was double checking the Miraculous Book, hoping to come across some information about the subject.

"Have you come across any information yet my old friend?" The old man was stretching carefully, not wanting to upset his back again. Fu wished for the hundredth time, that the gift of longevity, also came with a great health care plan.

Wayzz, who was sitting on one page of the Book, fell over onto his back. He had been so focused on reading, he had forgotten that his wielder was still in the room. Master Fu gently flipped him back upright.

Wayzz cheeks flushed red slightly, embarrassed to have been startled enough to land on his back. "Master, please don't do that again."

"Of course my old friend. Have you learned anything helpful?"

Wayzz nodded, as he flipped a few pages in the Miraculous Book, and stopped on a page with a picture of a few Miraculouses and them being polished or swapped out. "The writing here describes how to take care of the Miraculouses between users. Polishing them is a very good idea, a dirty Miraculous can interfere with a kwami's ability to inhabit it."

The little turtle tapped the picture again, drawing Fu's attention to the bottom of the illustration. It showed a jewel piece being taken from one accessory and placed in a different one. "Some of the Miraculouses need to be swapped out from time to time, especially the ones on headgear. The Bee Miraculous is a comb and every human needs one. However, hats and other headgear, change throughout time."

Master Fu scratched his chin thoughtfully. Marinette had given him a crash course in the history of fashion. She had been concerned about future Miraculous wielders being unable to hide the magical items in plain sight. Having a wielder who was into fashion turned out to be very helpful indeed. Especially if their small group would discover more lost Miraculouses.

"So, this magpie jewel, it wasn't always on this _ayam._ It was attached to other headgear over the years. I wonder, what else it has been on over the years?" Master Fu mused to himself. In his time training with the Order of the Guardians, he had never heard of Miraculous being swapped out from one accessory to another. Perhaps, because he hadn't completed his whole training regimen. There were at least five to six levels of training to becoming a Great Guardian of any circle, let alone two!

While it was true that Wayzz had completed his training, he did have advanced knowledge of _some_ aspects of the job. He had been favored by one of his mentor's, Master Zhu, because of his determination and fascination with the history of the Miraculouses and their Kwamiis. Master Zhu had held private sessions in his library.

Master Zhu, had told him it wasn't often one of the trainee's, showed in interests into _all_ the different circles and Kwamiis. Fu had been training to take over Master Zhu job, Great Guardian of the Universal Circle. His interest into the other circles and the history, was something he shared with Master Zhu, which eventually led to their secret lessons.

Wayzz shrugged his shoulders. He couldn't guess what the jewel had been attached to before, only it must have been always attached to some kind of headgear. According to the Book, once created, Miraculouses kept their accessory shape forever. So this lost Miraculous would always have to be a hat decoration. Right now, they needed to figure out how to fix it, so they could find out who was in this Miraculous.

Both Great Guardian and kwami, read the next few pages, hoping to learn if they could replace the missing jewels. Finally, they came across an answer. It was a small paragraph and the page was degraded a little bit. Most of the writing was faint or blurry. At least the paragraph they needed was legible.

"While it is rare, some Miraculous do suffer minor damage, during their use. Until it is fixed completely, the kwami will be trapped in limbo, not quite asleep and not quite awake. The longer this continues, the harder it will be for the kwami to fully convalesce," the duo read out loud together.

Wayzz shivered at the thought of being trapped in limbo. To be caught between being seen and returning to their abstract nature, was a scary thought indeed. Most Kwamiis would go insane if this happened to them.

With his kwami lost in thought, Master Fu finished reading the rest of the paragraph. "The Miraculouses can only be fixed by a fully trained Great Guardian and with the right spell. Each Miraculous has its own spell and will reveal itself when the time is right."

Hmm, I believe I can fix the Miraculous, once I can figure out what the right spell is. Ning might know what it is unconsciously. After all, the kwami did call out for her when she was in Korea, Master Fu contemplated in his mind.

Master Zhu had explained to him once, during a private advance lesson, about what it was like for the Kwamiis, before the Miraculouses had been made. Before the Miraculouses; abstract creatures would nudge or whisper into humans ears. Helping them with what little power they could.

The abstract creatures' instincts led them to find humans who exemplified their abstract purpose. Being around these humans helped the Kwamiis become stronger, along them to whisper and nudge the human race better.

Like her mentor, Ning was able to draw in many different Kwamiis, since the two of them exemplified so many different abstract concepts. Even in limbo, this kwami had been able to reach out and find the one person, who could return them to the Great Guardian.

* * *

The door to the bedroom opened and Ning walked out, stretching and yawning. "Thanks for letting me sleep so long. Even with all my traveling, my body still hasn't gotten use to multiple time changes." Upon on seeing her mentor holding the jewel piece, she gave him a curious look. "Have you discovered what kwami is inside the jewel?"

"Not yet my dear. The Miraculouses must be repaired and put on a new piece of headgear, before we can awaken the kwami inside. I don't suppose you know someone who has access to precious gems?"

Ning tapped her chin, thinking about it. She knew many different people from all walks of life, through her numerous aliases. Scanning her memory, she could recall a few people who specialized in precious stones. On the other hand, the Miraculous needed to be fixed quickly and with right materials.

None of her contacts, could ship sardonyx gems of the right size and clarity, on such short notice. Despite being a common gemstone, it would be difficult to find gems from the right area in China. They had to be a perfect match. Figuring out where the exact location was, would take a bit of time.

Adrien's father deals with gemstone dealers when he's creating accessories to go with his clothes. With sardonyx being common, it would be a stable source for clothing and accessories.

The jewel piece also needs to be sewn on to something that fits with today's fashion. Marinette's made accessories before. Maybe she could fit this to a hat or make a pretty headband for the jewel.

"We should ask for help from Adrien and Marinette. Adrien would have the best access to the gems we need and it wouldn't be suspicious if they were part of an order for his father's company. If we can figure out where in China the gems came from, it would help him pick out the right ones." she pointed out.

Master Fu stroked his beard thoughtfully. "Yes, we know that young Marinette would enjoy the challenge, of a making a new Miraculous. Wayzz, do you think Plagg and Tikki, could help you assess the health of the kwami, perhaps find out what abstract concept is associated with this one?"

Wayzz's antenna bopped. With the additional help, the Kwamiis could figure out this mystery quickly. He also suggested they would need to think about creating a box to hold the item. They got down to work trying to find the origin of the sardonyx gems.

* * *

Three days later, the duo came over for their weekly practice. They were happy to have Ning back, even if it was only for a little while. Both of them were very curious and excited about her discovery. Tikki was even more excited about the find. Plagg was a bit on edge, considering the last time a lost Miraculous had been found, Hawkmoth had come to be.

"A lost Miraculous and a new Kwami friend, this is so amazing! I wonder what our "cousin" will be like. Imagine the possibilities Plagg!" Tikki squealed in delight. She was already clapping her little paws together in anticipation.

Plagg rolled his eyes and twitched his tail. His counterpart was getting ahead of herself again. "Yeah Tikki, let's think of how many evil abstract ideas are out there. Wouldn't it be fascinating if this kwami tried to kill us?!"

Tikki antennas twitched angrily. She was about to slap him, when Wayzz touched her shoulder. "Plagg's cynicism is harsh, but he is right to be cautious. We don't know anything right now. We haven't interacted with another Circle in centuries. We don't know how this kwami will respond to us."

Tikki sagged her shoulders and let out a deep breath. Her enthusiasm had led her astray a few times in the past. It was important to consider all possibilities when dealing with the unknown.

The three Kwamiis got to work evaluating the Miraculouses. Besides the gemstones, Adrien had brought a book of symbolism from his father's library. His father often wanted his clothes and accessories to be symbolic of their inspiration.

He hoped it would help the Kwamiis figure out what concept their "cousin" represented. Since the right spell hadn't revealed itself yet, Master Fu thought the concept might be a trigger phrase.

The humans watched the Kwamiis for a few minutes, waiting for them to finish their evaluation. The little gods whispered to one another. Plagg flew back and forth from the jewel to the Book. Finally they were finished.

Wayzz floated in front of the group and spoke first, while gesturing to the jewel still on the table. "The three of us have come to a concession. The Kwamii inside has remained mentally stable in the broken Miraculouses. It is highly unlikely the kwami will react violently once awakened."

Tikki pipped in, explaining once the Miraculous was fixed, it would be best if the Kwamii was allowed to remain awake to recover his or her strength. The Miraculous itself, shouldn't be used for at least a year to avoid a setback. "Considering the kwami has been in limbo, not asleep or awake, there will be some confusion. We should help whoever this is figure out this modern world, before finding out more about the past."

Plagg yawned, tired from all this research. He just wanted to nap and eat cheese. "The magpie has many different symbolism, most of them are different between the West and East. Since the Miraculouses were made in Asia, I figured I should focus on the Asian concepts. The magpie is revered as a symbol of friendship, good luck, and happy marriages. It is also seen as intelligent, reasoning, and an honorable protector of the home."

Hearing the word honorable, Ning immediately remembered the faint whispering of the word honor, when she had touched the jewel back in the hotel. Honor was a huge abstract concept, especially in China, the Korean Peninsula, and Japan.

The burning sensation returned and her eyes glazed over. The mark on her hand was glowing even brighter than before. To the other's astonishment, she started speaking in a strange language, repeating the same words over and over. The jewel piece started to glow faintly, reacting to the words.

"The spell will reveal itself in time. She reacted to Plagg's words, Master! I believe I know what the abstract concept is connected to this Miraculous. It's honor."

Indeed, when the turtle uttered the sentence, the bands of color in the gems flashed in response. His "sister" Tikki snapped her little paws as she revealed the Master Fu's Apprentice was speaking in the kwami language backwards. No wonder it would only reveal itself in time, considering only the Great Guardian would know the language.

Master Fu tilted his head, listening closely to the words. The spell was giving instructions on how to repair the Miraculous and the words to awaken the kwami. Adrien handed him the box of gems, while Marinette quickly started to make the headband.

First, Master Fu carefully polished the gems before using a tiny pair of tweezers to put each gem in place, carefully lining them up. Next, he used some wire cutters and pliers to create a stronger frame around the gem, giving it much needed support.

Then, the jewel was inserted into a protective mold, to help securing it to the new headgear. Lastly, he scattered multi-colored sparkles over the item to disguise it when it was not in use.

Marinette passed the finished headband over to the man. The headband was made of metal with dark brown leather hand stitched on it. Lining the bottom of the band were small teeth, so it would stay firmly in the person's hair and not dig into the scalp. She had made sure to construct a large pad for the jewel to be attached to. It would be strong enough to support the weight of the hat decoration.

Carefully, Master Fu placed the magpie shaped jewel on the pad, casting the spell Ning was saying in a loud clear voice. He repeated the spell three times while holding the headband in one hand, the other locked with his apprentice's.

With two people saying the spell, the power behind the spell was doubled. Before everyone's eyes, the headband and the jewel piece rose into the air, flashing different colors. Sparks of magic darted between the two pieces, like two magnets coming together.

In a brief flash of light, the two pieces became one, the colors changing from the disguised look to full on activation. The leather now was white, the casing black and the jewels changed from red sardonyx to blue sardonyx.

The headband floated gently to the table. The activation phrase was said, "Collecting Items." Out of the jewel, came a kwami who looked exactly like the image Ning had seen before, the eyes opened revealing them to be brown.

The kwami flew around, happily vocalizing its return to the world. The little god darted all around the humans, taking them in and chirped with glee, when the other Kwamiis made an appearance. Landing beside the headband, the kwami opened her mouth, and spoke with a euphonious voice, "My name is Honorra. I am the Kwami of Honor. Thank you for saving me from limbo."

"You are welcome my dear. I am Master Fu, the last Great Guardian. This is my Apprentice Ning Sun. The two children you see here are Marinette Dupain-Cheng and Adrien Agreste, wielders of the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculouses respectfully. The Kwamiis are Wayzz, Tikki, and Plagg."

Honorra bowed slightly to all of them. The other Kwamiis floated down and sat on the table next to her. The four of them talked amongst themselves in their language. The two teenagers looked to the adults asking them to translate, only to be told the Kwamiis were talking too fast to be understood.

A few minutes later, Honorra turned away from the others and started to cry. The others had brought her up to speed about what had occurred while she was trapped in limbo. Learning about the destruction of temple and what was happening to Nooroo had upset her greatly. She hadn't known him personally, it was just the thought of the little butterfly being trapped similar to her, made her very upset.

"How can anyone be so cruel? I though the days of harming Kwamiis were in the past," she sniffled. Her tail feathers sagged in depression. It was unimaginable to her a kwami of the Universal Circle could have been duped by someone as cruel as Hawkmoth. How much had the world changed since she entered limbo?

Marinette picked up Honorra and hugged her gently. She stroked the kwami's head whispering to have hope and believe in the heroes would rescue her "cousin." Honorra wiped the tears out of her eyes, happy to be held once more by a loving human.

"You must be hungry Honorra. What do you like to eat?" Adrien asked.

"Rice please! It's so yummy and I love rice balls." Master Fu told Adrien he had some rice in his kitchen and to follow the instructions on the box to cook it. Plagg went with him to make sure the boy didn't burn the building down.

* * *

While they waited for the rice to be cooked, Master Fu opened the Miraculous Book and asked Honorra if she could help him find information on her Circle and where their Miraculouses might be.

"My circle is lost?! You said you were the last Great Guardian. Surely, you must have all the circles, including the Humanities, the one I belong to!" Honorra vocalized in a panic.

"Honorra, we had no idea you existed until I had a dream about three origami animals wearing accessories. How many Kwamiis are part of your Circle and what do they represent Are two of them an elephant and panda?"

Honorra chirped in delight and clapped her hands in delight. "Yes, you've seen Ellery and Stuffo? You must have found them if you found me."

Ning shook her head and reiterated her questions. Honorra didn't speak for a minute, clearly still upset. Then like a switch was thrown, she was upbeat and joyful again. "The Humanities Circle represents the greatest qualities of the human race. They include: honor, loyalty, peacefulness, compassion, altruism, patience, determination, and awareness."

Master Fu flipped through the Miraculous Book, looking for information on the Humanities Circle, but couldn't find anything about them. The Book had information about the Universal Circle, spells, information about the history and care of the Miraculouses, but nothing about this circle.

The three Kwamiis took a turn going through the pages, looking for something Master Fu might have missed. The Miraculous Book had been lost for centuries. Maybe the pages on the other Circles had gone missing?

By chance, Marinette noticed something in the corner of a page when the light hit the page on a weird angle. "Hold on a second. Tikki, can you pull the page back and turn the corner slightly?" Tikki proceeded to move the page slowly.

"There! Look, its faint, but there is some kind of hidden mark on the page." It was true, there was hidden mark on the corner of the page. Once again, it was the symbol of the Order of the Guardians. There was something underneath the mark. It looked like writing.

"Invisible ink. There must be hidden information in the book that couldn't be left in visible code," Ning concluded.

Wayzz flew over and got one of the candle's Master Fu used in his business. The heat from the candle light could make invisible messages appear. With the candle light the hidden message started to appear. It appeared to be a notation about going to certain pages. Flipping to those pages, more hidden messages were uncovered.

When Adrien and Plagg returned to the room, Master Fu was gently prying two pages, which had originally been one, apart. The Kwamiis gasped and Marinette's eyes were bugging out. Master Fu was astonished by what was on the page. Ning rubbed her eyes certain she was imagining what she saw.

The pages contained lists of names for the other Circles. There were notations about where to find the information related to them. Also, next to each name was a riddle, describing what sources of light or tools a Guardian needed to view the hidden messages.

Copying the information they need, the two pages were sealed back up. Master Fu quickly found the right pages. The riddle was simple, talking about the colors hidden inside the shape of light. With a small prism, the group unlocked the hidden information about the Humanities Circle.

"See, those are my friends and their Miraculouses. Ellery has her watch and Stuffo has his chain. Bukko, (deer), is the kwami for compassion and he loves the fact his belt buckle has lasted so long. Huhu, (African Painted Dog), is the kwami of altruism and his Miraculous is a pair of glasses. Cammie, (camel), is the kwami of patience. Don't you think her parasol is pretty? Socco, (salmon), is the kwami of determination. He can be super bossy when he wants to be, just because his Miraculous wallet is flashy. Gigi, (genet), loves her satchel."

Honorra was looked at the pages longingly. She missed her Circle and wondered if she would ever see her friends again. The rice fed her physical hunger, but did nothing for her emotional. It was going to be a long recovery process.

* * *

Meanwhile at the bakery, Sabine and Tom, were busy dealing with the afternoon rush. So many customers were coming in for fresh bread to serve at dinner that night. It was always nice to have so many new customers in the shop.

"Here you go. Fresh from the oven, I hope you enjoy it. Thanks for coming," Sabine said to the customer. She smiled and waved as the customer left with his purchase.

Tom brought out more samples of bread. He had made a few new recipes for baking two different breads together. He had made a banana baguette bread for his first new recipe. It smelled delicious. Another new recipe was for bing and brioche bread, a treat combining his and Sabine's favorite breads.

He also combined his mother's favorite bread focaccia with a honey wheat dough mix. Lastly, he mixed two flatbread recipes to make his own unique version of flatbread. He had enjoyed the taste and he hoped his customers would too.

"Free samples, get your free samples of our new bread recipes. Come enjoy a slice," he called out. The customers waiting in line each took a sample. Many complimented the banana baguette bread, enjoying the new taste of their favorite bread.

The combination of the flatbread wrapped to form the shape of a brioche, with smaller bits of brioche bread filled with delicious fruits inside, made this a tasty treat. A few customers asked for the recipe only to be told it was a secret and they would have to come back for more.

Three customers tried the focaccia made from a honey wheat based dough. The bread had a marvelous texture. The small dots on the bread allowed the flavor to last longer. The customers all agreed this would make a great treat for special occasions.

The new flatbread recipe was not as popular as the other breads, but it was still enjoyable. A few customers even took some loaves home to share with their family, once they ordered of course.

As the rush died down, the two of them heard Marinette come inside through the residential entrance. She called out that she was home and ran up the steps quickly, heading to her room no doubt to make a new design or do her homework.

"Marinette seemed awfully rushed just now. Do you know where she went?" Sabine asked her husband. Her nose wrinkled as she tried and failed to remember if their daughter told her anything.

"I think she mentioned something about visiting a friend with Adrien, but I don't recall her saying who the friend was. You don't think the two of them are actually…"

Sabine gently smacked her husband large frame. Her expression was playful as she scolded her husband. "Adrien is too much a gentlemen to even think about what you were suggesting. Our daughter, has a good head on her shoulders and wouldn't fool around."

Tom raised his hands in mock surrender. "Alright, you win Sabine. I was just trying to joke, but understandably it wasn't funny." He walked back to the kitchen to check on the progress of the new loaves of bread he was baking. "Marinette and Adrien are probably visiting a friend they made when they were at the charm school."

Sabine got a faraway look in her eyes as she thought back to the fundraiser ball. It had been a wonderful date night for her and Tom. She had enjoyed dressing up and spending social time with the other parents.

One of the best parts about that night, was talking with Mr. Agreste's assistant Nathalie. The young woman was an excellent conversationalist when chatting about topics she was comfortable with.

Tom had a nice time as well with Mr. Gorilla. The man didn't speak, but he was a good listener. He had been very attentive to Tom's stories and even made a few agreeable sounds during the dinner.

After the akuma had been defeated, she had seen her daughter comforting the young man, who was understandably ashamed of being targeted by an akuma. Marinette had even gone as far as dancing with the boy, Judekael she believed, a few times.

It was very likely her caring daughter had spent some time with her new friend before the ball and had maintained the friendship afterwards. "That would definitely be our daughter. She cares so much about everyone."

Satisfied with the explanation, Sabine started to restock the shelves with fresh food. The afternoon rush was over yet and she could already see more customers coming their way.

Upstairs in her room, Marinette was doing her homework with Tikki helping her once and awhile. Just because there was a new Miraculous and sad kwami, didn't mean she could fall behind on her schoolwork.

Both of them hoped Honorra would be able to help them with their super hero homework.

* * *

With the arrival of Honorra, who was able to give the heroes tips on how to focus better, the two teenagers, started to make progress with connecting with their special abilities. She also told them the best way to access their defensive powers was to keep calm even when their life was threatened.

Ladybug and Chat Noir, were practicing on the roof of the building, trying very hard to call on their defensive powers, when the radio broadcasted another failed attempt by Mr. Damocles, who lately had been dressing up like his childhood hero The Owl, and trying to be a hero.

"Ugh, how many times has he fallen out of trees trying to rescue cats this week?" Ladybug asked, as she held her head in her hand. "It's getting ridiculous how often we have to help rescue him."

"I know, my father has been adding additional photo shoots lately and I barely have time for myself. Do you know how much I had to beg to get an hour off to come here? I don't want to be stuck taking care of our headmaster during my free time," Chat Noir complained, twirling his tail in annoyance.

"Maybe we should help become a hero one time and he'll stop." Chat Noir thought her idea was the best solution he ever heard. They started to plan a fake attack only for Peace Keeper to cough to get their attention.

They had completely forgotten Peace Keeper was supervising the training session. The UN agent had fixed the prototype invisibility unit and thought it would be good way to help the heroes' access new powers. Plus, she still needed to test the device for the tech company.

Her eyes seem to pierce to the teenagers souls. "I would be very careful in how you proceed in this endeavor. Mr. Damocles is an elderly gentlemen. The elderly take great pride in themselves and the wisdom they've gained over the years.

You should also remember his attempts of being a hero are out of the childhood desire to be recognized for doing kind acts for others. In adulthood, his desire made him a teacher and later headmaster. Don't make a fool of him or crush his desire completely."

Despite reassurance they would not hurt Mr. Damocles feelings, there was a knot in her stomach. The two of them were going to enlist Alya's help to stage a fake attack where their headmaster would "save" them from trouble. When they left, she headed downstairs for her personal practice time with Master Fu.

* * *

Today Master Fu, was instructing her once again, on trying to call upon two Kwami Charms powers at the same time. Once more she focused her mind on what she wanted to accomplish, relaxed her body, and slowly Nooroo's energy flow through his Kwami Charm.

Today, she was attempting to combine the powers of Nooroo with Wayzz's. She held her hands out letting the magic gather inside her. Master Fu had instructed her to power up the magic in one hand, before trying the other.

Master Fu, adjusted Ning's stance. "Remember, you need to keep your hands straight. Your feet need to have a firm grasp on the ground. Tilt your head a nudge to the left. Yes, this is right." He stepped back from her smiling.

Purple sparks started to appear in her right hand. The sparks grew steadily and she felt Nooroo's gentle spirit flowing through her as the magic grew. She recalled how she felt when Nooroo transferred half his power into her. It was helping her shaped the magic.

As Nooroo's magic flowed through right arm, Wayzz's power was starting to course through her left arm. The familiar sensation of the turtle's power gave her confidence. It was easier to shape the green sparks due to her familiarity.

Master Fu carefully studied his student, a please expression on his face. The sparks were joining together, forming the outline of a butterfly and a turtle. The magic was glowing brighter as it grew.

He gently tapped her back with his walking stick and it relaxed a smidgen. "You're almost there my dear. Let the magic get stronger and then attempt to use both together."

Wayzz hovered near Ning's head. He could feel his life force draining slowly into his Charm. The transfer of energy was steady as Ning focused on not taking too much from him.

Turning her palms inward, the Great Guardian's Apprentice started to push the two magical animal shapes closer together. A bead of sweat appeared on her forehead. It was very difficult to handle the growing magic.

The magic was starting to get away from her, the animal shapes shrinking. No, I won't lose control I won't! Doubling her efforts, the magic started to grow once more as she drew her hands closer.

I'm almost there, you can do this! Don't give up! She could feel the magic hesitating. The two life forces trying to decide if they could combine. Silently, she urged the magic to merge. Become something more powerful.

Master Fu saw his apprentice struggle for a few minutes, before relaxing once more. He was confident, certain in a minute his apprentice would be able to use the combine powers of the Turtle and Butterfly. He watched the magic slowly starting to merge.

Suddenly, there was a third life energy turned magic attempting to merge. The increase of magic was causing the merger to falter. Ning was losing control as more sweat appeared on her face. "No, no don't fall apart," she whispered.

The magic blew up in her face, the force causing her to slide across the floor and straight into the kitchen. The mini explosion caused Master Fu fall on his back and scream because of the pain.

Frightened, Wayzz quickly phased through the walls and came back a few seconds later with a cold compress and phase through the floor and under his wielder, before proceeding to put the cool compress in a place, to help numb the pain.

He heard Honorra sniffling. She was upset. "I didn't mean for my life force to become magical energy. I didn't think it was possible, without a Kwami Charm! It just happened!"

"Honorra, now's not the time. Go help Ning. I'll take care of the Great Guardian. His "cousin" nodded and hurried to check on the young woman, still mystified about how her energy had become magic.

Ning had blacked out for a few minutes after the mini explosion. Her head hurt and the light was too. The sound of someone talking felt like a thousand drums being played at once. "What happened?"

"I'm so sorry! I didn't do this on purpose! Please believe me," Honorra pleaded. Her little tail was standing up because of her panicking. "Are you hurt? Should I get you some medicine or call someone?"

"Honorra, please stop talking." Instantly the honor kwami went quite. Inside she was still fretting about what happened. Minutes ticked by, her anxiety growing, as the Great Guardian's Apprentice stayed laid out on the floor.

Finally, Ning gained enough strength to get up. Walking into the main room, she saw her mentor laying on his back, still in a tiny bit of pain. "Ning, can you take me to my bed? I need to rest if I want to be able to walk tomorrow."

Half an hour later Master Fu was tucked in bed and sleeping. His pain medication always made him a little sleepy. Wayzz agreed to stay with him to make sure he didn't try to get out of bed. Which gave Ning and Honorra plenty of time to try to figure out this mystery.

"Has anything like this happened to you before?"

"No! I've been trying to regain my life energy, not give it to someone else. Was my Kwami Charm with the _ayam_ when you found me?"

"Technically, North Korea found you and my contact was clear when she told me they only found the _ayam_. If I was anywhere near a Kwami Charm, my charm necklace would have alerted me."

Honorra wondered if the charm might have fallen off the old Miraculous. Her sharp eyes looked out for anything shiny and small. "Found it!" Honorra raced to the floor and picked up the item, only to fee it wasn't the right shape.

"Chocolate wrapper? Ugh, I guess Tikki dropped one on the floor." Honorra stuck her little tongue out, thinking about the problem. "I know my last wielder didn't have my Kwami Charm. I don't even know why I wasn't taken back to the Order. What possible reason could they have for burying my Miraculous?"

Ning shrugged her shoulders. She didn't have the answers to Honorra's questions. Maybe someday they would, but not today.

She blinked her eyes and in the two seconds it took her to blink, the sky outside had changed from sunny afternoon skies to a starry night one. Marching over to the window she witnessed a bright light projecting the image of owl face into the sky. The source of the light seemed to becoming from the stadium. "Hawkmoth."

Peace Keeper suited up and told Honorra to stay put and not let anyone enter the apartment, unless she was certain if it was Adrien, Marinette, or her. They couldn't afford to lose the book. After telling Honorra how to use the computer she was off.

The rush of adrenaline made her feel alive and energized. Turning on her filters, she typed the information into her wrist computer, looking up all possible strategies to assist her friends.

Arriving in the stadium, she started climbing the steeps to get a better look at the field. Dark Owl, (Mr. Damocles' Akuma name), was using his improved weapons and actually doing some serious damage to young heroes bodies.

She held her breath as Dark Owl managed to use a grappling gun to sling Chat Noir into the large shipping container on the field. Ladybug went to help, only to spring the trap on the interior. According to Peace Keeper's vision filters, the container was filling up with melted marshmallows, trapping the heroes inside.

"Give up your Miraculouses! You have nowhere to go and if you try to use your powers, well then, I hope you can eat your weight in marshmallows!"

Marshmallows? Seriously, was Hawkmoth borrowing ideas from a comic book? "Ladybug's got a plan no doubt to keep their identities hidden, but it won't stop Dark Owl once he knows he's be duped. A Lucky Charm is a onetime use."

Because of her new training, Peace Keeper could sense the akumatized object, wasn't in the stadium. Hawkmoth was keeping the akuma at a distance to prevent purification. Still, it had to be connected to Dark Owl in some way to keep up the akumanzation.

"Okay, if I was a comic book fan dressing up as my hero, where would I keep my secrets?" A second later she snapped her fingers knowing what to do.

Peace Keeper made her way to the school, knowing the item had to be somewhere in the headmaster's office. His one place of solace from everyone. As she got closer, she felt the magic getting stronger. The item had to be in the office.

Landing outside the door, Peace Keeper turned the invisibility unit on, keeping it at the lowest power setting. "Hopefully it won't burn out."

She entered the office quietly, tiptoeing around because she was wary the office was also booby trapped. The entire office had been transformed to match The Owl's lair.

The lair was old style, with technology from long ago. The lights, projector, and even the small TV resembled early versions of themselves. The only thing that wasn't different was the computer.

The computer! She went around the desk and stood in front of the device. A primitive AI named Alfred was giving Dark Owl ideas and assistance, as he tried to catch Ladybug and Chat Noir, who had tricked Dark Owl and Hawkmoth, with gum shaped Miraculous fakes.

"Sir, I'm sending replacements for your owl disks. They should arrive in fifteen seconds," Alfred informed his master. "The targets are heading in this direction. Intercept them before they can reach me."

Time to reboot this computer Peace Keeper thought. She grabbed the monitor and smashed it to the ground. The Akuma had just started to flutter away, Peace Keeper took out a tiny container, with magical symbols carved on it. She snatched the evil butterfly up.

"Ladybug, I have the akuma. Get away from Dark Owl and I'll bring it to you. Chat Noir, make sure, he doesn't return to normal in a place of danger."

* * *

Back at Agreste Mansion, Nathalie was working on schedule for next month. As she scheduled the time for Mr. Agreste to speak with his jewel supplier, for more gems for the upcoming fashion line, when she heard the faint screams of her boss.

Obviously, his latest Akuma had been defeated. She pressed the intercom. "Sir, do you need some calming tea?"

"NO! Clear my morning schedule for tomorrow and get my masseuse to come here. I'm in need of some relaxation."

"Of course sir, I'll arranged it right now." She was already dialing the phone to the masseuses. "Hello, this is Nathalie Sancoeur Mr. Agreste's assistant? Yes, he would like one Swedish massage here tomorrow morning. Do you have an opening at eight? Yes, thank you. I'll see you tomorrow."

As Nathalie went about her business, rescheduling everything she had meticulously planned for tomorrow morning, she couldn't help wishing her boss would at least be considerate to the amount of work she had to do.

She knew of course her boss was Hawkmoth. How could she not, considering she was in charge of his, Adrien's, and sometimes half the company's schedule?

He had threatened her of course to keep his secret. His threats had frightened her, but it wasn't enough to keep his secret. In exchange for her silence, she had convinced him to let Adrien attend public school. The boy's happiness was more important than her own career.

"Still, I wish he would spend a bit more time with Adrien. It was heartbreaking, he chose to create an akuma instead of attending the ball. It was nice of him to allow Adrien to attend."

It still surprised her a bit Mr. Agreste had allowed Adrien to have a romantic relationship with Ms. Dupain-Cheng. Then again, the man had felt a great deal of shame and guilt, for almost killing the girl, when she was his undercover akuma. If this was his way of making up for his actions, she wasn't about to stop him.

The door to the mansion opened and in walked the Gorilla and Adrien. She stepped out of her office to greet them. "Welcome home Adrien. I'm glad to see you are in one piece."

"Thanks Nathalie. The photoshoot ended right before the attack so the pictures will be on time." The Gorilla huffed in agreement and handed the assistant some of the proofs as evidence.

"Very good. Adrien, the attack put your father behind on some of his work so he won't be joining you for dinner tonight. Please finish your homework before then."

The disappointment on Adrien's face was quickly replaced by his mask of happiness. "I'll get it done Nathalie. See you at dinner tonight."

The assistant watched the teen walk to his room with sadly. The Gorilla, (who didn't know the truth about Mr. Agreste), shared a look. They both could tell how sad Adrien was.

I hope Mr. Agreste either succeeds soon or gives up trying to bring Emile back, so he can be a father to Adrien she thought to herself.


	8. Test

One week, Ning had one week until she had to return to the United Nations in New York. Despite, what she had learned so far, she was still frustrated by her lack of ability to use two Kwami Charms at once. She was also secretly disappointed that Master Fu hadn't let her try to transform with Wayzz. She really wanted to try and understand what it felt like with that much magic.

Also on her mind, was why the symbol of the Order of the Guardians, kept appearing on her hand and burning her? First, it had sent her a dream about another Miraculous Circle. Then, it had helped reveal to her the secrets in the Miraculous Book. Later, it had alerted her about the lost Miraculous. Lastly, it had given her the spell to awaken Honarra.

Ning was in the kitchen, her breakfast forgotten. For a change, she didn't have the news on. The radio was playing in the background, offering her some white noise. A pad of paper with a sketch of the symbol was in front of her. "Why, why, why? What does it all mean?"

She searched her memory, hoping for some clue or passage she had read would help her figure out this problem. Even her perfect memory didn't have an answer for her. "I know so much about magic and science. I'm an expert in multiple cultures and can speak over a dozen languages. Why can't I figure this out?"

"Because some mysteries will always be mysteries," Master Fu told her, as he entered the kitchen. Wayzz and Honorra followed him around before heading to the fridge for their breakfast. Honorra was having difficulty eating solid food, so Master Fu had bought her rice pudding to eat. Hopefully, it would help her recover her energy faster.

The Great Guardian and his Apprentice watched in amusement as Honorra dived into the pudding cup and splashed around in it, as she ate merrily. Wayzz, scooted his breakfast further away, to avoid getting them covered in pudding. He was not pleased at all with his "cousin's" manners.

"This is the most delicious food I've ever eaten! This pudding is almost as good as rice balls! What else have humans been making with my favorite food over the last few centuries?"

"They certainly haven't been using it on _my_ baby carrots," Wayzz mumbled. As each kwami represented an abstract concept and looked like an animal, they each had a specific food they needed to survive. In times of emergency, they could eat other foods, but to stay charged up they needed a specific food. Many Kwamiis had a distaste for what other Kwamiis needed to eat.

Master Fu chuckled lightly. The scene reminded him of his childhood at the temple long ago. During lunch time, all the initiates would let out the stress of their day by bickering a little. Wayzz was use to being the only Kwami here. With Honorra's arrival, he was having a few problems adjusting to her presence.

"Master Fu?" Ning asked quietly. Her mentor shifted his gaze to her, waiting patiently for her to continue to speak.

She showed him the sketch and her left palm. The symbol wasn't there right now, but she felt it as if it was there. "The symbol of the Order of the Guardians keeps appearing on my hand and burning me. Whenever it happens, it has something to do with the Miraculouses or Kwamiis. Has this happened before?"

Master Fu closed his eyes, trying to recall if Master Zhu had told him anything related to this. Master Zhu had shared stories with him about the past. In his mind he could see himself, as a young boy, drinking tea as Master Zhu told him about the symbol of the Order of the Guardians.

The old man had traced the symbol on his hand, saying the symbol had more than one meaning. The symbol did stand for order and guardian, but there was a hidden meaning. One that very few Guardians knew.

"Special Friend," he whispered in the present.

"Master?" Ning replied in confusion.

Master Fu let her hand go and picked up the sketch. "When I was only an initiate I was favored by Master Zhu, the former Great Guardian of the Universal Circle. He taught me many things, including advance knowledge I wasn't supposed to be taught until I was older."

Wayzz and Honorra stopped eating or cleaning themselves. The two Kwamiis sat at the table paying rapt attention to the Great Guardian, curious about what he had to say.

The Great Guardian turned the sketch so Ning could see. "You can see the symbol combines the hanzi for order and guardian together, but if you look closer, you can see the symbol for special and friend hidden in the decorative circle."

Ning took a closer look and she finally saw the hidden characters. "I can't believe I missed that. What does it mean for me and why is the symbol burning on my palm at times?"

"Ning, very few people know about the Miraculouses or the parts they played across the world in varying cultures. Even among those who knew, only a handful understood the profound connection the Miraculouses, Kwamiis, and humans, all had with one another.

The universe gave birth to the first Kwamiis. They helped humans as best they could. The Miraculouses were made to help them to do more. Without the Miraculouses humans wouldn't have started creating abstract ideas, which led to the universe making more. We're all connected and those who truly understand that are considered special friends to all parties in the circle."

Honorra spoke up, "I don't understand. You and Ning are very similar in regards to all this. Not to mention you are the last Great Guardian. Why do you not have a symbol that appears and disappears?"

"One day I might. Master Zhu told me that when someone bears this mark, not only are they a special friend, they have a very important purpose to fulfill. Each time something related to their purpose occurs, your mark will appear and burn slightly to alert you."

Ning muttered the sensation was more like a hot fire, then a minor burning feeling. At least she finally had answer for the reoccurring mark. However, she was left with a new question. "So my purpose was to find Honorra? Does that mean the symbol isn't coming back?"

Master Fu shrugged his shoulders. He would need a little time to investigate, but he promised to have an answer for her, before she left at the end of the week. Until then, she needed to train more in order to prepare her for whatever happened next.

* * *

The next day, Marinette and Adrien were joining a few of their friends, who were all couples, to find the famous André, the Ice Cream Matchmaker. Technically, that wasn't his official name. André was a successful and hard to find ice cream vendor whose custom made ice cream cones, brought many couples together, when on their first date or needed to repair a trouble relationship.

Marinette was chatting amicably to Adrien. "Once you try this ice cream, you'll know what it means to be in love. My parents had their first date at his cart. They couldn't keep their eyes off each other as they shared their ice cream with one another. My dad even proposed to my mom by hiding the engagement ring in her ice cream."

Adrien eyes looked a little sad, before he politely hummed. "You're dad's proposal idea was wonderful and romantic. Maybe one day I should prepare us a romantic rooftop dinner and propose to you there."

Marinette blushed fiercely. "Proposing is a long way off. We should focus on our romantic ice cream date. André ice cream is the best in the city. I'm surprised you haven't tasted it by now. Did your dad ever take your mom on an ice cream date?"

Adrien froze and squirmed uncomfortably. Ever since his mom disappeared, his father hadn't mentioned her once. Whenever he asked about the subject the conversation was quickly shut down. Even when his mom was around, whenever he asked about their past and how they got to together, his parents said he was too young to know about such things.

"I don't know. I don't know what my parents would do for a date night." He was trying his best not to cry. Thinking about his mom and how her disappearance changed his father, was making him very upset.

Marinette felt horrible for making Adrien feeling so sad. She stopped walking and stood in front of him. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought it up. Do you want talk about it?"

The blond model muttered no and he walked around her, his pace increased. He kept his head down with his hands in his pocket. Marinette chased after him, knowing if she lost him, she would have to answer to the Gorilla and Mr. Agreste. She shivered in fear at the thought of having a serious talk with them.

Adrien arrived at the meeting spot on the Pont des Arts and half-heartedly greeted Nino, Alya, and Ivan and Mylene. Nino was concerned about his best friend, noticing he seemed upset and that he didn't arrive with Marinette, who was only now reaching the newly improved Pont des Arts.

The bridge had undergone a massive transformation over the last few years. In 2015, the city of Paris had begun the process of removing love locks off the bridge, in order to preserve the bridge and ensure the historical ironwork lattice grid, wasn't lost.

In the present Plexiglas had been installed to allow people finally view the Seine again and protect the historical areas of the bridge. All the bridges in Paris were getting the same treatment. Love locks had been removed from the Eiffel Tower also. Plans were in motion to have dive teams clean up the Seine of all the thousands of padlock keys which had been thrown in over the years.

When Marinette arrived, she tiptoed to her boyfriend cautiously. He didn't look up and turned slightly away from her. Alya mouthed what was going on to Marinette who only held up her hands helplessly.

Nino slid slightly over to talk to his best friend. "Hey man, you okay?"

Adrien nodded. "I'm fine Nino. Let's just get some ice cream."

At that moment everyone heard the jingle and hearty laugh coming closer. The couples smiled brightly upon seeing André and his ice cream cart. "Bonjor, young lovers. It is always wonderful to see couples searching for my ice cream to deepen the bond of love. Come, I will serve each of you my one of kind match making cones."

André spoke poetically as he prepared cones for each of them. He lovingly described what each flavor represented and how it connected the couples together. Alya and Nino got there ice cream first. Then Mylene and Ivan.

Finally it was, Marinette and Adrien's turn. Marinette smiled brightly and wrapped her arm around his, but he pulled away. André noticed and saw the sadness in Marinette's eyes. It seemed this couple need a bit more magic than the others.

"Ah, relationships of love can go up and down. My ice cream can make any problem between young couples go away. For you young lady, peach pink like his lips, mint like his eyes. For the young gentleman, my newest creation, Ladybug inspired ice cream."

He held out the cones and Marinette took hers, but Adrien didn't. He raised his head slightly."I'm sorry Mr. André, but I'm not hungry. I doubt your ice cream can solve my problem. I got to go now." He walked away sadly and his friends tried to get him to come back, but he didn't.

Marinette started crying. "It's my fault. I never should have asked him about his parents and what they did when they were dating. I'm sorry Mr. André. You're ice cream can do amazing things, but it can't fix a heart that's heartbroken about a lost parent."

Marinette took the other cone, paid for the ice cream, and then went in the opposite direction of her boyfriend, so she could eat the ice cream and drown her misery. Her friends followed her to give her emotional support.

* * *

André couldn't believe what had just happened. No one had ever turned down an ice cream cone and he was horrified that instead of fixing the relationship, he only worsened the situation. He couldn't get the picture of a crying Marinette out of his mind.

So preoccupied by his thoughts, he didn't notice the akuma flying towards him and melting into his ice cream scoop. In an instant he was in the pre akumanzation trance.

" _Glaciator, I am Hawkmoth. You're beloved ice cream of love has been tainted by someone who doesn't understand its magic power. I can give you the power to show all of Paris your marvelous ice cream can do._

 _All I need from you is to bring me Ladybug and Chat Noir's Miraculouses."_

"I shall serve this new flavor with great joy." The purple and black smoke covered André. He grew in size and was covered in ice cream. When the akumanzation was finished, he now resembled an Ice Cream Sunday version of the Pillsbury Doughboy.

"The loving couples of Paris, will be so pleased," he sang out loud. He then started marching through the city streets firing ice cream at any person who was alone.

* * *

Back with Marinette, she laid down on her lounge chair on her balcony. She was having a case of sphenopalatine ganglioneuralgia, or more commonly known, brain freeze. "My head, ugh I blame Adrien for this." She pinched her forehead, trying to make her headache go away.

"You're the one who decided you had to eat two ice creams cones quickly. You should have given one to me so this didn't happen," Tikki chastised her.

Marinette moaned and turned over in the chair. She started to sniffle. "Tikki, what do I do about Adrien? I was so excited for the ice cream date and I must have hurt him deeply talking about my parents and asking about his. How could I be so insensitive?"

"Oh Marinette," Tikki spoke in a gentle voice. She rubbed against her wielder's cheeks in a loving gesture. "You weren't doing it on purpose. Your intention was to make a happy memory with Adrien, sharing something which was very special to you, with him. Adrien is responsible for his own reactions, not you. Give him time, he'll feel better soon."

A few blocks away, Adrien was sitting in his bed staring up at the ceiling feeling sad. He knew he had unintentionally upset Marinette by leaving her standing there by the ice cream cart. He also had offended the vendor unintentionally by ignoring the treat offered to him. "I shouldn't have been rude to her or Mr. André. He was just doing his job and trying to be nice."

Plagg, who had been burying himself under Adrien's dirty socks, popped his head out of the hamper. "When your right your right. You did make a big mistake."

"Plagg! You're supposed to be helping me feel better!"

Plagg rolled his eyes and phased out of the hamper. "Making you feel better isn't in my job description. When Marinette asked if you wanted to talk about it, you're the one who said you didn't need to. Your lady is so sweet its nauseating at times.

I have seen how much it hurts you when your mom is brought up or how your unhappy with your father's actions. It's okay to feel upset and hurt. What's not right is taking it out on others."

Adrien nodded knowing Plagg was right. He had promised Teal Peacock, he would try to deal with his worries about his father, but he hadn't. Neither had he talked to someone about how he really felt with his mother missing. Maybe it was time to keep that promise.

He reached for the phone to call her when pink ice cream splattered all over his window. Surprised, he jumped out of bed and peered through a piece of glass that wasn't covered. He couldn't believe what he was seeing or hearing.

"Oh Paris how can you resist me? I make a sweet treat for couples to eat. Let me express my loving devotion to you." More ice cream bars shot out of Glaciator's fists, turning anyone hit by them into a frozen popsicle. "I'm going to find you Ladybug and Chat Noir, and you will be handing over your Miraculouses."

Adrien cursed under his breath. He really wished Hawkmoth would take a vacation. "We need call Master Fu and Peace Keeper. I think we'll need back up with this one."

"Peace Keeper will come if she feels Ladybug and Chat Noir can't handle this. Now, let's not stand up your girlfriend." Adrien nodded and shouted out his activation phrase and then leaped into action.

Glaciator was strolling closer to the bakery. His giant footsteps shook the whole block and Marinette right out of her lounge chair. She blinked several times to be sure she was seeing properly. "Please tell me, my brain freeze is making me see things."

"Oh Marinette, where are you? I have come to aid you in your time of heart break. Together, we shall help your prince the power of true love!"

The teen ducked back into her room and headed for the bathroom, while Tikki waited impatiently for her. After taking a pill for her headache, Marinette raced back upstairs. "Tikki Spots On!" She swung through the air, her mind already trying to figure out the best way to deal with this akuma.

* * *

At Master Fu's home, Honorra was watching an Akuma attack for the first time, considering last time she was in charge of helping keep Master Fu safe. She was fascinated by this computer machine.

Master Fu had logged on to the Ladyblog and brought up the live action feed. Instead of the close up footage normally featured, it appeared Alya was filming from inside of a building and wasn't close enough to get audio.

On the screen, Chat Noir was acting as a decoy, so Ladybug could get the civilians somewhere safe. Occasionally ice cream rained down on the streets, causing Ladybug to start spinning a massive shield to protect everyone.

The live broadcast zoomed in on Chat Noir. He was saying something as he ran up Glaciator's arm. The giant desert man started waving his arm and flung the boy away. Judging by where Chat Noir disappeared from camera range, he was likely in another arrondissement.

"For an akuma based of a dessert, he's pretty strong," Wayzz commented offhand.

Honorra wings flapped in agitation. On the screen, Ladybug noticed, the absence of her partner. There was a couple behind her. She got into a fight stance, as Glaciator raised his fist towards her, but nothing happened. Glaciator ignored the couple and decided to head back towards the bakery.

Honorra let out a happy chirp. "Did you see that? Even akumatized, the gentleman has some honor. He won't attack couples because his belief in his loving ice cream."

Master Fu stroked his beard as Ning watched the footage closely. It appeared Honorra was right. He wasn't attacking couples. Chat Noir suddenly reappeared on the screen. He attacked high and Ladybug attacked low. This tactic didn't work this time.

Glaciator lifted his arms up high and fired multiple ice cream cones into the air. They came raining down all over the city and forced the duo to make a hasty retreat. It appeared they were too preoccupied on staying unfrozen to notice a vital clue.

Master Fu stopped stroking his beard. Looking down at his bracelet, he internally debated something before sliding the bracelet off. Wayzz noticed what he was doing and figured out what the old man was going to do.

Wayzz shook his head furiously. His wielder stared back at him. Wayzz mouthed protests. The human didn't give up, just kept staring. Finally, Wayzz slumped his shoulders, knowing he wasn't going to win this fight.

Ning felt a hand placed on her shoulder. She turned her head and looked at her pseudo grandfather. He was holding the Turtle Miraculous out towards her. Standing up, she looked at him in confusion. "I thought you said I wasn't ready to try using the Turtle Miraculous."

"I believe the special circumstances around this akuma victim, makes this an exception. Our heroes are acting purely offensive in this fight. They need someone, who can observe and relay information to them. Just attacking isn't helping, they need to find a way to defend themselves for a short period of time before using their attacks."

He placed the bracelet in Ning's hand. "One of your greatest skills, is how you are able to take in your surroundings and quickly assess everything you can use to your advantage." He curled the young woman's fingers over the bracelet.

It hit her right then. Master Fu, was letting her borrow his Miraculous, in order to help Ladybug and Chat Noir. She wouldn't have to fight. All she had to do was figure out a winning strategy and convey it to the heroes. Her desire to try using a Miraculous was coming true.

She slid the bracelet around her wrist, feeling weight of it. She knew it didn't weight a lot, but if felt much heavier to her. She reached to remove her Kwami Charm necklace, but Master Fu grabbed her hand. "Keep the necklace on. You're not ready to use any powers associated with the Miraculous. You'll use the Kwami Charms, if it is needed."

Wayzz stood by as Ning took a deep breath and did a few quick exercises to relieve any stress or tension in her body. Once she was relaxed, she held up the bracelet and said the transformation phrase. "Shell Closed!"

Wayzz zipped into the Miraculous and Ning felt the magic flowing from the bracelet into her body. Unlike the time she was possessed by the Fox Miraculous, the magic felt warm and inviting. Her mind was calm.

The magic transformed her into a turtle version of her regular battle attire. Her shell was smaller, covering most of her back, but leaving her neck exposed. The meteor hammer took the place of her utility belt.

"I feel stronger and my stamina is so high I could run for hours. Is this what it always feels like?" Peace Keeper asked.

"The first time, yes. Try to imagine wearing your regular mission attire and being able to go a little bit further or higher than you could before. It will help keep you from overdoing it."

Peace Keeper nodded her headed. She went up to roof. From there, she could see Glaciator still attacking the heroes. Without a second of hesitation, she jumped off the roof and headed for the action.

As she transverse the rooftops, Peace Keeper understood what her mentor meant. Her jumps lasted a minute longer and were a bit higher. Her running speed was faster, and there was less resistance from the elements.

I have to pace myself. I can't be any help if I overdo it. Slow and steady she thought to herself. By concentrating on her movements, Peace Keeper managed to slow down and move like her regular self, with only a tiny boost of power.

She kept her eyes focused on Glaciator. Ladybug and Chat Noir had managed to get him away from their neighborhood and into one of the bigger streets. To her annoyance, the akumatized ice cream man was still singing.

"Couples, couples, couples! Love is the language of Paris and couples are the future. If you give me your Miraculouses, I can introduce you to this love sensation."

Peace Keeper came to a halt on a rooftop a short distant away. There was a telescope on the roof for viewing the sky. Looking through it she saw more couples racing away, and only single people getting frozen.

Swinging the telescope towards the heroes, it was obvious they were still too busy trying to avoid being frozen or fighting to take notice how several couples ran away, without having ice cream shot at them. The teens need help if they were going to stop the walking dessert.

Her senses took over evaluating everything she could see as her mind dismissed non-viable options. Because she was using a Miraculous, she had a better idea of the capabilities of the heroes. "The street is to narrow and there isn't anything around that could help. Chat Noir needs to be able to use Cataclysm. Ladybug has nothing that can help if she summons a Lucky Charm. Come on Peace Keeper think!"

Reviewing what she knew about Paris, an idea started to form in her mind. She swung the telescope so it was looking at the 19th arrondissement. There she saw Parc des Buttes-Chaumont, one of the largest and most beautiful parks in Paris.

There was enough open space to move and plenty of places to utilize for protection. There were also numerous items in the park which could be used with a number of different Lucky Charms. The best part was she could hide and use the Kwami Charms without being seen by anyone.

Tapping the screen on one of the balls of her meteor hammer, Peace Keeper dialed Ladybug.

Ladybug was currently trying to hide a few civilians that had still been on the street when Glaciator came by. Instead of firing ice cream at her, he slammed his fists down on the ground, letting melting ice cream cover everything on the street.

Her yo-yo started beeping, indicating an incoming call. Spying a store, she led the civilians there. "Quick, get in the back and don't come out until it's safe. You'll be okay I promise."

Popping the cover of her yo-yo she answered the call. "Chat, I'm doing the best I can, I'll be there in a second."

"I'm not Chat," a familiar voice said over the line. Ladybug nearly dropped her yo-yo in surprise. " _Peace Keeper_? How are you calling me?! You're communicator doesn't transmit on the same frequency of the Miraculouses."

"I'm _using_ a Miraculous right now. Master Fu let me borrow the Turtle Miraculous, so I could better observe the fight and help," Peace Keeper responded in a clipped voice.

Back on the rooftop, Peace Keeper was looking through the telescope again, keeping track of Glaciator and seeing how close he was in proximity to Parc des Buttes-Chaumont. "I've been observing Glaciator and have some information for you. He attacks single people not couples. Also, it's subtle, but his ice cream form is slowly melting. He's lost half an inch during this fight."

Ladybug was astonished by this. Had she really been too busy fighting to notice such an important detail? Tikki and Plagg were right, she had been so busy fighting offensively, and she never set up a defense so she could observe the Akuma. It was time to fight smarter. Her hand tightened around her yo-yo. "Do you have a strategy to offer?"

"Yes, but you'll need to trust me. First, you need to guide Glaciator to Parc des Buttes-Chaumont. I'll make sure he follows. Once in the park, have Chat Noir use his defensive powers to cause Glaciator to step into a lake. You'll use your defensive power to trap him so you can summon a Lucky Charm to end this."

It was a solid strategy. Disconnecting the call, Ladybug tossed her yo-yo and started swinging through the streets. Approaching Glaciator from behind so he couldn't see her she spotted her partner on the street eyeing the Akuma. He seemed to be struggling with his flight or fight response.

"Chat Noir, you need to be frozen, so kindly give me your Miraculous!"

"Not going to happen," he huffed. He was starting to get a little winded from all this fighting. Glaciator raised his fist and fired double the amount of ice cream cones than before at the teen hero.

Ladybug swooped down, grabbed her partner, and did a lofty loop de loop before letting Chat Noir go on a rooftop. "We need to stick close together. As long as we act like a couple, he won't fire any ice cream at us."

"When did you figure that out My Lady?"

"I didn't, Peace Keeper did. She's currently using the Turtle Miraculous to help us out. She worked out a strategy to stop Glaciator. The first step is leading him to Parc des Buttes-Chaumont."

* * *

While this conversation was going on, Peace Keeper had gotten a bit closer. She needed to near enough to the fight to use the Kwami Charms, but at a distance she couldn't be seen.

Getting into position, Peace Keeper prayed silently this time she could pull off using two Kwami Charms at once. She didn't know if using the Turtle Miraculous would help or not, but it felt good to have a friend with her, even if he was in his Miraculous right now.

"Focus on your intent. Don't get flustered. Concentrate." She held out her hands and slowly reached out for the magic inside the Kwami Charms. Nooroo and Wayzz's Charms started glittering as the magic slowly moved to her palms.

The magic started to form quickly as the spheres came together. Slowly, she moved them closer together, keeping her mind calm. She breathed in an out. The Miraculous glowed briefly as Wayzz's loving support was felt. If she reached out enough, she could feel the faint hope Nooroo was sending his way.

The spheres merged together without a problem. She felt the magic binding to one another. The power of the spell doubled. Her forehead started to wrinkle under the strain. This was getting too much for her.

NO! I can do this! Don't give up! Peace Keeper shouted in her mind.

The magical sphere was now an even amount of green and purple. Curling her fingers, she moved slightly so she had a clean shot. Glaciator was almost in range.

Glaciator stepped into her line of sight, singing about turning the Eiffel Tower into his new ice cream stand. Peace Keeper let the magic loose. "Champion Guard!" The magic sphere shot through the air with deadly speed. It connected with Glaciator's right arm. The magic traveled up through the arm and down towards the tummy where André's real body was.

The magic entered the man's body. The magic connected to his mind disconnecting him for a few minutes from Hawkmoth and hooking him up with Peace Keeper.

" _Glaciator, I am Peace Keeper. Your famous ice cream is enjoyed by many. Ladybug and Chat Noir love it too. They would love for you to serve them some at a romantic location. I suggested going to Parc des Buttes-Chaumont. It's so romantic, especially the water features."_

" _You are right Peace Keeper, I shall go there and serve up my best ice cream before taking the Miraculouses."_

The connection dwindled away as the magic seeped back out of the man's body and formed a protective shell around. He would be safe inside once the ice cream body was fully melted. Right now, he was doing as she suggested and heading for the park.

Peace Keeper couldn't believe it. She had actually done it! She had used two Kwami Charms at once! This was fantastic. Now, time to see if the hero and heroine could use their defensive powers now.

Ladybug and Chat Noir had entered the park. Instead of running towards a nearby lake, they strolled hand in hand. Chat Noir was even joking. "What did the strawberry ice cream say to the vanilla ice cream?"

"I don't know, what did the strawberry say to the vanilla?"

"I'll cone you later!"

Both of them laughed at the corny pun. Glaciator's shadow fell over them, but they just continued strolling a leisurely pace. Ladybug started to talk about what kind of date they should go on next.

"Personally, I would love a picnic the park. Wouldn't it be romantic? Us, eating under the shade of a nice tree. The gentle breeze blowing through the air. Enjoying the view of the lake and seeing how many bikes we can count?"

"It is the purrfect set up to me. The only thing that would make it better would be sharing some of André the Ice Cream Matchmaker's famous ice cream with you."

Glaciator paused and listened to the couple. He had been aiming at them, ready to freeze them, when he realized they were on a romantic date. His chocolate smile seemed to go on forever. The super hero couple loved his ice cream!

" _Glaciator, now's your chance! Freeze them and take their Miraculouses!"_

" _Mr. Hawkmoth, I cannot do that. These two are truly in love and they want to eat my famous ice cream!"_

" _I'm ordering you to take their Miraculouses. Serve them ice cream if you must, but bring me those Miraculouses now!"_

Glaciator followed the command. He jumped over the couple, barely managing to get any height. He pointed his fists at the two, who stopped hastily. "I apologize for interrupting your date, but I need to collect your Miraculouses now."

Chat Noir closed his eyes and thought about being a huge hissing feline. He could feel the power growing inside him. Dipping deep down into his reserves, he focused all his energy into pulling off this move. "Feline Bluff!" He felt himself getting bigger and bigger. His shadow lengthened becoming a snarling cat. His green eyes locked on Glaciator. He took a swipe at him with his claws taking a small layer of ice cream off.

"What is this? No, stay away! Don't come any closer!" Glaciator was truly frightened. He kept backing up trying to get away from the angry cat. Chat Noir came closer. The Akuma fired some ice cream only for it to be knocked away by the shadows claws.

He backed up into the lake, the water slowly melting the ice cream away. Glaciator tried to get back on the bank, but this time Ladybug used her defensive power.

"Warning Spots!" All the spots on her outfit magically came off and started forming a cage around Glaciator. Bombarding him again and again, causing more ice cream to melt. He kept firing ice cream cones, hoping to get rid of the spots, but they were just to fast.

Knowing she would get another chance Ladybug called for her Lucky Charm. A bike helmet landed in her hands. Using both her powers back to back was draining her energy fast. If she didn't act quickly, Glaciator would get free and she would be defenseless.

She quickly spotted the items she needed to use. Chat Noir helped her assemble a propeller. While she biked in place, Chat Noir's belt converted the bike's energy to help spin a propeller made from three signs.

The propeller blew away the rest of the ice cream revealing André's body in a protective green turtle shell. The shell landed in the lake and Chat Noir used his baton to maneuver the encased man towards him.

Once on shore, the protective shield dropped and the ice cream scoop landed on the ground. Chat Noir didn't waste any time. He used his Cataclysm to destroy the ice cream scoop. Ladybug caught the escaping akuma, purified it, before restoring everything to normal. This had been a real close fight.

* * *

In his lair, Hawkmoth growled at another defeat. "Ladybug and Chat Noir, have new powers?! How can this be? Darkwings rest!" Instantly he turned back into Gabriel Agreste.

Nooroo shivered and curled himself up to be smaller. He knew what was coming. "How can I be of service Master?"

"Don't be coy with me. Ladybug and Chat Noir, used new powers! I want to know how they did it and why you didn't tell me."

Nooroo gulped and then replied. "They used their defensive powers. Each Miraculous has an offensive and defensive power. You're offensive power is the ability to create Champions. Your defensive power is Chrysalis."

Gabriel moved closer to Nooroo and got right in his face. "What does Chrysalis do exactly?"

Nooroo swallowed. "You can use it to protect yourself or trap an enemy so you can flee. The power lasts for ten minutes and your own life force powers it."

Gabriel filed the information away for now. "Why didn't you tell me about this before?"

"Because Master, you didn't ask. Wielders need to know their offensive attacks, but most don't want to know about defensive, so you need to ask. Chrysalis is a last resort, considering the Butterfly Miraculous works best at a distance."

Gabriel grimaced in anger. Compared to Ladybug and Chat Noir's defensive powers, Chrysalis sounded pretty weak. Also he was highly suspicious of why there had been a green shield around the ice cream vendor's body. Was that strange woman passing through again?

He still knew little about the Kwami Charms. He had studied the book using his computer in an attempt to translate the text, but he hadn't found much other than confirming they existed. Nooroo had been no help considering it wasn't information he could share.

"Ladybug and Chat Noir may have new defensive powers, but I still have the edge when it comes to tapping into my special ability. Soon, I will be able to connect and control anyone or anything I want. Those Miraculouses will be mine," Gabriel proclaimed to himself.

* * *

A few days later it was time for Ning to head home. The UN Security Council needed her skills once again. Problems in several countries had recently gotten worse and she was one of the few people who could deescalate the problem. Hopefully, the world wouldn't implode on itself while she traveled back to the States.

She had finished packing and putting on her American male disguise to go home in. This trip to Paris had been enlightening. She had learned so much from Master Fu. The history of the Great Guardians, the code of the Miraculous Book, and even how to use two Kwamii Charms at once.

The accomplishment she was most proud of was being able to transform and experience the power behind the Turtle Miraculous. "I wanted to try using a Miraculous and I finally got that experience. It was amazing and humbling," she said to herself.

Master Fu's praise for handling the Miraculous and using two Kwami Charms at once, was more rewarding then punishing official UN Peace Keepers, who broke the rules. This next level of training was very difficult, yet at the same time, rewarding. In her heart, she knew this was the right path for her.

Entering the main room, the others were waiting for her. Marinette and Adrien blinked several times, astonished how easy it was for Ning to disguise herself as a male. Their Kwamiis jaw's dropped upon seeing the transformation.

"I knew you were great at disguises, but I would have never guessed you were really a woman. How do you pass as one in the bathroom?"

"Plagg! That's rude."

"Geeze, Tikki it was just a question."

Their wielders shushed the Kwamiis before going over and hugging Ning goodbye. She was still getting use to displays of affection, so it surprised her a little bit. "I'll miss you two greatly, but I'm happy knowing you can finally use your new defensive powers."

Marinette replied, "We should be thanking you. Without your help we wouldn't have been able to stop Glaciator. You're going to be a wonderful Great Guardian one day."

Adrien's head bounced up and down in agreement. "The Kwamiis and their Miraculouses, will be super safe with you."

Honorra dove down and landed on Ning's outstretched finger. Honorra chirped happily as Ning used her other hand to stroke the little magpie head. "Thank you for bringing me back home."

"You're welcome Honorra. Despite the risks involved, you were worth it. I only wish we knew where the rest of your Circle was or what happened to your Kwamii Charm." She frowned slightly. She was a tiny bit upset with herself for not finding an answer for Honorra.

"You may find out those answers sooner than you think," Wayzz informed her. He gestured to Master Fu, holding out ornate colorful box to her. He was looking at her with pride.

"With a little investigation and ancient wisdom, I discovered what your special mission is." He passed the box to his Apprentice and held onto her hands tightly. He had a serious expression on his face. It reminded her of her superior's when they asked her to take on an important mission.

"The other Miraculous Circles are scattered across the world, their purposes, lost in time. I don't know how much life I have left to live, and with one of the Universal Circle Miraculouses being misused, it is more important than ever to ensure their safety.

You have been selected for a unique quest. It is your mission to recover all the lost Miraculouses and bring them here where they can be safe. It will be very difficult and you will encounter many obstacles. I have faith in you Ning Sun."

Ning felt the heavy weight of the box in her hands. The box itself was giving off powerful magical vibes. It looked like a miniature version of the Order of the Guardian's temple. She had strong feeling that no matter what Miraculous she came across, it would fit in here.

"I am honored Master to be chosen for this quest. I promise, no matter how long it takes, I will find every Miraculous, heal the Kwamiis, and return them to your safety and protection," Ning swore.

It was a promise of a lifetime and she would keep. The next time she was in Paris, she would bring back more Miraculous and reunite each kwami with their family.


End file.
